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Secure Your Life No password, no account and no person is competely safe from attackers. Discover how to best protect yourself, your identity and your life.
The Goods The Inside Job The Demise of Apple Page 6
Page 17
Page 21
The Goddard Institute for Space Studies is now installing one of IBM’s most advanced space modeling hardware available. Climate scientists and aeronautics engineers have waited for this day for years.
This is what we do. Join us at ibm.com.
2 Unzipped
Contents Secure Your Life 8
Today, as computer security improves, so do attacker’s ability to circumvent these measures. Unzipped explores how users can protect themselves and future technologies that might one day replace passwords.
The Demise of Apple 21
Apple is loosing its grip in the flurry of competition because of a lack of original products. Unzipped describes the details.
The Inside Job 17
14
Three people compare and contrast their experiences on three similar yet different operating systems: Windows, Mac and Linux. Each operating system’s goal is to be user friendly, intuitive and fast. Which OS would you choose?
IPv6
The future of the Internet
4
Meet the Team
26
The
Goods
6
Letter from the Editors Unzipped 3
5
Meet the Team
Arthur Pachachura
Director of Design
A strong programmer since 2007, Arthur is the lead designer for the team. He enjoys building robots, taking them apart, and playing the violin (though not all at once).
John DiCarlo
Director of Photography
John is currently a freshman at LASA who is forced to split his time between three things. He is the star history player on the LASA Quiz Bowl Freshman team, starting JV first baseman and 2nd chair violist in the LBJ Philharmonic.
Travis Shivers
Editor-in-Chief
Computers have always been in Travis’ life. He got his first computer when he was six years old. Today he is a freshman at LASA high school. He currently plays the trumpet in the LBJ Symphonic Band. He enjoys listening to classical music.
Q and A
4 Unzipped
Q: How long have you worked as a team?
Q: What is the purpose of your magazine?
A: Not long. Three months or so. We have known each other passively since 2009. That’s four years, right?
A: “Equipping every person with the latest knowledge of the information sector.” We came up with that over lunch.
Letter from the Editors Writing a magazine for the first
come in and critique what we had
password. “IPv6” shows how we
time is a challenge. There are a lot of
just came up with. After that, we had
need a new addressing system to
things that you have never noticed
to start working on the material.
keep track of all the devices in the
or heard of before but make a big
We first completed our ASFs and in
world. The Inside Job is the story of
difference to the final output of
plenty of time. With our extra time,
3 different operating systems as
the magazine. We had never heard
we were able to complete our Table
explained by their users. The Demise
the word ASF before, we had just
of Contents and this spread. Then
of Apple reveals how Apple is not the
assumed that they were all stories.
we had to work on our Features.
company that it once was and how
When you read something, you
We had to interview a lot of people
they are not as strong anymore. Last,
take it for granted that everything
before we could start writing our
but not least, “IBM Watson” dives in
is formatted correctly, unlike what
stories, so after we interviewed
to how Watson works and explains
actually happens because all the
them, we wrote a rough draft and
how it can win Jeopardy.
formatting takes forever to complete.
then designed a rough draft of the
We think that this course is a very
layout. After we finished that, we
good course to take in the first
made sure all of the layouts in all of
year at the Liberal Arts and Science
the stories were identical, and finally
Academy, because it taught us how
worked on tweaking minor stuff like
to format and design things, and we
advertisements and more minor
believe that we will need these skills
formatting issues.
in our future years at LASA.
This issue will be discussing
Our magazine interviewed lots of people. We would like to thank Harper Shapiro, Jonah Shaukat and Scott Strubberg for their contribution towards Secure Your Life. We also appreciate the contributions of Michael Martinez, Jeff Satterwhite and Niels Kornerup towards The Demise
many different topics. “The Goods”
of Apple. We would finally like to
process to follow. First, we had to
talks about the newest products
thank Dylan Danzeiser, Austin Dell
come up with a logo, a color scheme,
by the top companies. Secure Your
and Hunter S. Thompson for their
and a mission statement. Then we
Life explains that security is getting
contribution towards The Inside Job.
had to have a professional designer
weaker and how to make a strong
This magazine had a specific
Q: What are your interests and talents? A: We all have different talents, but all our interests revolve around technology and music. We were all in the same orchestra this year. The difference between us is what keeps us together.
Q: You say to equip every person with the latest knowledge of the information sector. No exceptions? A: Not really. If you have a computer, a keyboard and a mouse, you can learn what’s new, how to get it and even how to make it yourself (within warranty).
Q: If you could improve one thing about the nature of technology, what would it be? A: Accessibility. If someone could conjure up a $10 computer with a screen, everyone on Earth will be able to join in the universal network of knowledge, known simply as the Internet. Unzipped 5
The Goods
Windows 8
by John DiCarlo
There were many electronic devices that came out in 2012 and while some of them were complete busts, there were some must buys.
THESE ARE THE TOP 6
Nexus 7
With its new start screen and now touch screen, Windows has finally come closer to figuring it out. The speeds are faster, the graphics better, everything is better. $119.99
iPad Mini
Google’s newest tablet, and first in a series, it is “7” because of a giant 7 inch display. It has a three core processor, making it faster, and with 10 hours of battery life, it will last a lot longer.
The Mini is smaller than the original iPad, but it is still much bigger than most tablets, making it cheaper and thinner. Add to that it is faster and lighter, and you’ve got a great tablet.
$199
$329
6 Unzipped
iPhone 5 Apple’s newest iPhone comes with all kinds of new things including a bigger screen (while weighing less) and comes with new features including panorama photos and longer battery life. $199
Raspberry Pi A computer is now credit card sized and can cost $25? When do we get our teleporters? The Raspberry Pi is very fast considering that it is so tiny and all you need is a TV or a monitor. It can hold up to 256 MBs of RAM on this thing, so it may not have much storage, but it is tiny. Model A $25. Model B $35
Galaxy Note 2 Samsung’s newest phone/tablet hybrid has many cool features that you can do with the stylus including Air View and Quick Command, which makes it much easier to read emails and documents. This makes it a great device. $330 Unzipped 7
8 Unzipped
Secure Your Life Today, as computer security improves, so do attacker’s ability to circumvent these measures. Unzipped explores how users can protect themselves and future technologies that might one day replace passwords.
By Travis Shivers
Unzipped 9
Secure Your Life
E
asy six character passwords
web passwords habits, the average web
were pretty secure 20 years
users has around 25 different accounts
are exactly the same from after that
ago when password crackers
but uses only 6.5 different passwords.
incident,” Shaukat said. “So I haven’t
could only try about 1093
“To tell the truth, all my passwords
One of the major mistakes people make
really changed any. I have been too lazy
combinations per second at a normal
today is using the same password for
to change it.”
workstation. Today, a mixed case six
multiple websites. Scott Strubberg, a
character alphanumeric password with
networking teacher at the Liberal Arts
symbols can be cracked in around 8.17
and Science Academy, said that he is
hours, and if it’s a dictionary word, it can
amazed how insecure people make them
be cracked almost instantly.
today.
Internet security is an increasing
This is a common dilemma that most users face. They see remembering authentication credentials as cumbersome and practice poor security as a result. Many users have no idea
“There are so many dictionary
about how to go about creating a secure
concern among computer users today as
attacks,” Strubberg said. “Password
password. Harper Shapiro, another
more and more personal data is being
crackers will run a program or script that
student at LASA, faces this problem.
stored online. However, most users have
will just go through the dictionary. So
no idea about how to protect themselves
if you just have a dictionary password,
and secure their data.
then that can be easily cracked.”
According to a study by Microsoft on
Insecure passwords are one of the most
Top 10 Passwords These top passwords of 2012 were compiled from attacks resulting in exposed databases. These passwords or variations on them should never be used as they can be cracked immediately. 1. password 2. 1234 3. 123456 4. abc123 5. querty 6. letmein 7. dragon
common attack vectors for computer systems. According to a recently-
“I try to use passwords like capital letters, stuff that’s not completely obvious, but you know the factor of
“The factor of remembering is worth a lot for me.”
published Trustwave 2012 Security Report, 80 percent of security incidents were due to the use of weak administrative credentials. Jonah Shaukat, a student at LASA, had his
- Harper Shapiro
remembering is worth a lot for me,” Shapiro said. “I try to use similar passwords at least for most of my stuff.”
Shapiro sees the cause as this problem as both the system and the users.
YouTube account compromised due to a
It’s more of a problem with the
weak password. Before his account was
system to where they kind of have to
stolen, he knew almost nothing about
chose easier passwords so they can
internet security.
remember them,” Shapiro said. “People’s
“I feel like the sheer stupidity of my password was a factor in me being hacked,” Shaukat said. “But really, I was not doing much to prevent it being hacked.” After his account was taken over, he
mental capacity to want to lean towards just making easy passwords and all the same password for stuff, and that is just really unsafe. But it’s what people do anyway and it’s not going to stop until the system is different. Making unique passwords for each website is really
8. 111111
immediately went around and changed
difficult. So they desire not to do work to
9. baseball
all of his account logins. However, he
just get into simple websites.”
10. asdf
really did not change his overall security
Data courtesy of ZDnet 10 Unzipped
habits.
Even though Shapiro has insecure logins, he is not concerned enough
about getting hacked to change his
to anybody making a password. The
attacker will not be able to compromise
habits.
ultimate best is just have it be a random
their other accounts since they are using
Strubberg sees lack of education about internet security as the
“The ultimate best is just have it be a random assortment of letters and numbers and symbols.” - Scott Stubberg
main cause of this problem. He explains
assortment of letters and numbers and symbols. That is the crème de la crème.”
that there are some easy ways that users can increase security without having to
Users can also add complexity to
unique passwords for every website. Many users find remembering different logins for every website very cumbersome. One method of making them unique is to have a portion of them remain the same across all of their accounts and change just a portion of it for each account. Users could base
use much effort. Strubberg explains that
them by adding words that are spelled
the unique part on the website’s name.
complexity is the key to a secure strong
backwards, randomly throwing in capital
For example, a user might have a static
password. He mentioned that most
letters, and substituting letters for similar
part as Hor$313b@ttery39. Then, to
websites already show users how secure
symbols. For example, a user might
make each one unique, this user might
theirs is as well as requiring them to be
replace an S with $, an A with @, and
add the first two characters of the
a certain length and contain enough
an I with !. They could also make them
website’s name to the beginning of the
character variability.
easier to remember by basing them on
password and the last two characters
an acronym or random English words.
of the website’s name to the end of
A string of random English words in a
the password. So, if this user made an
pattern that the user understands is also
account on Google, their password
good.
would be GoHor$313b@ttery39le. This
“When you take two words that have nothing to do with each other and put them together [such as] Cat2shovel,” Strubberg said. “Adding some number complexity. Uppercase C, uppercase
Having unique passwords for each
S. Start adding complexity. Uppercase,
website is one of the best ways users
lowercase, length of password is also
can protect themselves. If this practice
a big one. At least eight characters.
is followed and a user’s accounts is
Upper and lower case. Alphanumeric.
attacked, the information for that
Those are my always strong suggestions
account only will be exposed and the
system requires little effort to remember while being very secure. The user only has to remember the filler portion the algorithm that they use to come up with the unique portion. In addition to having unique
Characteristics of Secure Passwords Complex
Unique
•
A mixture of both uppercase and lowercase letters
•
Not a word that can be found in a dictionary in any language (e.g., waterfall)
•
A mixture of letters and numbers
•
Inclusion of at least one special character, e.g., ! @ # ? ]
•
Not a dictionary word with some letters simply replaced by numbers (e.g., a1rplan3 or aer0plan0)
•
Hard to guess but easy to remember.
•
•
Should never be written down
Not a repeated character of series or characters (e.g., ZZZZZZ or 654321)
•
Not a series of keyboard characters (e.g., qwerty or asdf)
•
Not personal information (e.g., pet names, friends, address, birthday)
Long •
At least 8 characters
Unzipped 11
Features /
Secure Your Life
passwords for each account, it is also
one master password. Because of that, a
that you are. A piece of you that could be
important for a user to change all
user will only have to remember that one
used to authenticate. And it could also
of them on a regular basis. If a user
key, the one for the manager, instead
be something that you have. So it could
changes their login every few months,
of the login information for all of their
be a cell phone with a keyfob.”
it limits how long stolen credentials
websites. Users can then use incredibly
are useful to attackers. Passwords for
secure passwords for every account since
banking accounts and other high value
they can just input them into it.
accounts should be changed very frequently, around every couple of months. A users email account should be considered sensitive and protected with a very secure one since most websites send them an email to reset their account if they forget their password. Because of this, attackers often target a user’s email accounts if they are trying to compromise one of their other accounts.
“Definitely read reviews of the software that you’re going to use before you do that,” Strubberg said. “It’s just a matter of finding one that’s safe, that’s reliable, that has good reviews. It’s all about security.” In addition to password managers,
contain sensitive data, it is not necessary
having multiple layers of security is
to change their it as often. Often, once a
another great way to improve security.
year is a good expiration period for most
This multi-factor authentication system
accounts with non-sensitive data. Users
is currently being used by some websites
should also take into account how secure
today, such as Google.
their password is and change it more or less frequently based on that. Another solution to this problem
are getting more advanced, new ways of securing systems are also being developed and improved. “As soon as we come up with the next complex password, there are hackers
“It’s all about trust when it comes to security.”
trust when it comes to
However, for other accounts that do not
As computer and electronic devices
- Scott Stubberg
and crackers out there that are developing the next tools to get those passwords,”
Strubberg said. “So it’s a constant cat and mouse game that we’re playing with all the attackers out there. Rather than requiring passwords to be more and more complex, other technologies are being added in addition as a replacement of them. There are
“Having multi-factors improves security because the hacker has to have multiple means of entering your
is a password manager. It is a piece of
network, not just having a username and
software that stores passwords in a
password,” Strubberg said. “Something
database that typically encrypted with
like your hand or your eye. Something
Devices such as the RSA SecurID are used in many two-factor authentication systems.
Fingerprint scanners can be used to authenticate in place of or in addition to passwords.
Picture courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons
Picture courtesy of centralpoint.nl
12 Unzipped
already technologies out there, such as
part,” Strubberg said. “If they use proper
the idea of security with your data can
fingerprint scanners, that might one day
social engineering techniques, they
only help our experiences as users,”
completely replace them or greatly affect
might be able to know that man that guy
Strubberg said. “Just talking about this
how we authenticate to system.
orders a lot of pizza. That may be his
and bringing this conversation to the
password or his security answer.”
forefront is a good idea.”
“My laptop has a fingerprint scanner,” Shaukat said. “It doesn’t work very
Even though authentications systems
well, but I mean if that technology can
are not completely secure, it is important
be improved, it’s a lot easier than a
for users to try and keep themselves
password and it is much more secure.”
secure as possible. They should keep up
Even with these new technologies, there will always be people out there
with the best practices of security and educate their colleagues.
that are trying to break into systems. It is
“We continue to train users to
very important to realize that nothing is
mitigate risks by training people in
completely secure. Users are actually one of the biggest vulnerabilities of otherwise secure systems. Users can be tricked into
knowing what a
“I think it’s getting better and I think people are getting smarter about it and even institutions are getting better about it.”
giving their login
good password is, more complicated passwords,” Strubberg said. “I think it’s getting better and I think
- Scott Stubberg
information to a malicious website if it looks like the actual website that the user
even institutions are getting better
is going to. A user could even be tricked
about it.”
who is impersonating their bank. “You can socially engineer your way
Facebook Facebook said that it was the target of an attack that targeted employees visiting a mobile developer website that had been attacked. The attack took advantage of a flaw in Java that bypassed its sandbox. No user data was reported to be stolen from this attack.
people are getting smarter about it and
into giving it over the phone to a person
Security Breach Victims of 2013
Continuing and evolving
Microsoft Microsoft was also compromised by the same Java venerability as Facebook. The attackers injected
conversations are paramount to internet
malicious code into an iOS
security.
developer website. No evidence of
into anybody’s computer for the most
“Creating more awareness around
Password Managers Password managers are a great solution for people who have trouble memorizing passwords. They store user’s login information for all the websites they use and help users log into
stolen customer data was found.
NBC In February, NBC reported that it had been attacked along with several of its websites being infected with the Citadel Trojan.
them automatically. In addition, many encrypt their password database with a master password, the only password that needs to be remembered.
Twitter In early February, Twitter’s systems
Popular Password Managers
were hacked and over 250,000 user
•
LastPass - lastpass.com
stolen data were usernames and
•
KeePass - keepass.info
hashed passwords.
•
Roboform - roboform.com
accounts were stolen. Among the
Unzipped 13
IPv6
The future of the Internet By Travis Shivers
What is IPv6? IPv6 is the latest revision of the Internet Protocol and will replace IPv4, the current version. The IETF, the Internet Engineering Task Force, first defined IPv6 in RFC 2460, which was published back in December 1998. Since IPv4 and IPv6 are different on a packet level, they are considered  two separate protocol stacks.
Why is it needed? IPv4 only has an address space of
Connected Devices
Internet Users
20 Billion
nearly 4 billion addresses, and with
15 Billion
the number of internet connected devices growing exponentially, the
10 Billion
address space has recently been used up. IPv6 solves this issue by offering
5 Billion IPv4 Limit
a ridiculously larger address space to
0
accommodate for this rush of devices.
2003
2011
2016
Larger Address Space
Mobility
IPv6 has a 128-bit address space, which allows for around 340
Mobile IPv4 relies on the inefficient
undecillion addresses, compared to IPv4’s 32-bit address space of
practice of triangular routing, which sends
only around 4.3 billion addresses.
packets to a proxy server before being
340282366920938463463374607431768211456 Possible IPv6 addresses
IPv4 Address
IPv6 Address
172.16.254.1
2001:0db8:85a3:0042:1000:8a2e:0370:7334
transmitted to the actual destination. IPv6 makes mobile IPv6 as efficient as native IPv6 by eliminating this dependency on triangular routing.
IPsec
Jumbograms
IPsec, or Internet Protocol Security is a protocol suite that secures
In IPv4, packet payloads can only be
a communication session by authenticating and encrypting all IP
54,535 octets. IPv6 allows processing of
packet. Since it operates on the Internet Layer, it can protect any
packets over this limit called jumbograms
application traffic without requiring application to be specifically
which have a much greater limit of
designed to use it.
4,294,967,295 octets.
14 Unzipped
Packet Format In IPv6, the packet header and the process of packet forwarding has been simplified to be more efficient. The new packet design will be more consistent with the fundamental end-to-end principle of Internet design.
IPv6 Version
Payload Length
Flow Label
Traffic Class
Next Header
Hop Limit
Source Address Destination Address
IPv4 Version
IHL
Type of Service
Identification Time to Live
Total Length Fragment Offset
Flags
Protocol
Header Checksum
Source Address Destination Address
SLAAC
Multicasting
SLAAC, or Stateless Address Auto
Multicasting is a routing scheme in
Configuration, is a standard feature in
which a packet is sent to multiple
IPv6. It allows IPv6 hosts to configure
destinations in a send operation.
themselves automatically using when
In IPv4, it was added on as an extra
connected to an IPv6 network by using
feature, but in IPv6, it is part of the
the Network Discovery Protocol.
base specification. New multicast implementations. Embedding rendezvous point address in an IPv6 multicast group address.
IPv6 Adoption
Sources
Deployment of IPv6 has been rapidly
•
World IPv6 Day Logo courtesy of the Internet Society
increasing in the past year. Events such as
•
tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2460
the World IPv6 Launch have accelerated
•
datatracker.ietf.org/wg/ipv6/charter
its deployment by educating companies
•
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6
and consumers about the benefits IPv6
•
google.com/intl/en/ipv6
and about buying IPv6 ready devices.
•
worldipv6launch.org
According to Google, at the end of 2012,
•
arstechnica.com/business/2013/01/ipv6-takes-one-step-forward-ipv4-twosteps-back-in-2012
•
sosyalmedya.co/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/IPv6-Nedir.png
•
circleid.com/posts/20121128_ipv6_a_2012_report_card
the IPv6 made up around one percent of internet traffic. This number is estimated to double by the end of 2013.
Unzipped 15
Borderless Networking Performance 16 Unzipped
Flexibility
Security
The Inside Job Every computer contains two parts: hardware and software. In the hardware side, each computer has processors, motherboards, and many other components which help it function as a whole. In the software side, there is the operating system. Each operating system, also known as an OS, controls the entire computer including every program you run and every chip you own.
Each OS’s goal is to be friendly and easy to use. There is the widelyused Windows, the reliable Macintosh, and the free Linux. Which OS would you choose? Story and Art by Arthur Pachachura Unzipped 17
The Inside Job Operating System almost exclusively for
What is Macintosh?
the past five years.
According to Apple Inc., the developers of the Mac, Macintosh is, “The world’s most advanced desktop operating system.” Developed starting 1984, Apple’s with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a mouse rather than a keyboard and a command line. advanced and creative operating system in existence. For most, Macintosh has always been the go-to OS for innovation
article site, held an online slideshow about the common features of many OS’s.
gave it to him on his birthday. Since Windows machine. “I like the Macintosh simple user interface. I like the way that Apple has made its OS so simple and lightweight,” Thompson said.
For some, the Mac is both the most
InfoWorld, an online
Macintosh machine when his parents then, he has used his Macintosh over his
Macintosh is the first operating system
and creativity.
Thompson came across his first
a great success over their Microsoft counterparts. Though always considered
“Two of Windows 7’s most
Macintosh is far less used by the general population than other operating systems, but it is widely used in the art and music industries for its well-made, clear design.
The Macintosh Experience A regular Macintosh user, Hunter Thompson has used the Macintosh
18 Unzipped
open-source and more customizable. “There was once a single person that wrote a single operating system,” Thompson said. “Then another operating system built onto that operating system. That’s pretty much what computers have been doing for quite a while. I don’t see
Since the first Macintosh computer
- Hunter Thompson
Mac OS,” InfoWorld said.
If Thompson could change one thing about the Mac OS, he would make it
why Apple can’t do the same.”
was released, Apple’s computers were
“Two of Windows 7’s most touted new features are clearly based off Mac OS.”
touted new features are clearly based off
The Future of Mac OS
What is Linux? Linux started in 1991 when a Finnish
the least customizable
student, Linus Torvalds, built a micro-OS
OS, Apple’s Macintosh
as a personal project to create a free
was the first with a
and public operating system. Since that
graphical user interface
launching point, millions of developers
and the first computer
all around the world have created over
to be considered ‘easy-
twenty unique operating systems.
to-use’ by most users.
“Apple sort of goes for user comfort rather than customizability since some
The Linux Experience
users are a little afraid of things you
Dylan Danzeiser, a sophomore at
can customize too much,” Thompson
LASA High School and a Linux interface
said. “That’s why you see Macs in lots
expert, tried Linux for his first time
of creative applications such as digital
during his freshman year of high school.
design. People even apply a custom skin
Now, Danzeiser is 16 years old and has
to make their computer look more like a
extensive knowledge of the Linux OS.
Mac.”
“My first experience with Linux was when I heard about this British microcomputer called the Raspberry Pie,” Danzeiser said. “The Pie is like a
really small $35 computer – it is so cheap
is proprietary to Microsoft, running
“It’s this amount of choice in an
it can’t even run the Windows operating
operating system that is one of the
common apps on a Linux machine can
system. When I got it, the operating
things that I really like about Linux,”
be a difficult task for the common user.
system that it ran was Debian, which is a
Danzeiser said, “If you don’t like what
version of Linux.”
this thing looks like, then you can find
From that, Danzeiser learned how to use a Linux machine and found it very similar to a Windows and a Mac in its
“Right now, I would not recommend Linux to your grandmother,” Danzeiser
something that runs better and works faster. The customizability of Linux is its greatest feature.”
to use Linux alone for several weeks. “As soon as my computer got back, I decided: “I’ll install Linux on my
online about people giving it to their grandmother and it supposedly working.
interface and features. Then Danzeiser’s main computer broke and he was forced
said. ”Though there are videos
It’s not really that hard to learn, but you need to at least be open and not to be
Linux: Years of Success, Years of Problems
too scared of it.” Linux has worked for many users
“I see two main downsides to Linux,”
in many fields already. According
main computer to see how fast it runs
Danzeiser said, ”The first is that it’s not
to Net Market Share, 94 percent of
on something larger that a 700MB
as user-friendly. Linux has made a lot of
supercomputers run some form of Linux
processor, cause that’s very slow,”
progress toward user-friendliness and
and a good majority of servers and
Danzeiser said.
there were a bunch of
Danzeiser said he finds Linux faster than his Windows machine, since a Linux can run on so little memory. One thing that he likes about Linux is that it has many options for themes and features, unlike Macintosh and Windows which both have only one theme. “With Windows, you basically had two
companies involved in Linux that were trying to get it for the desktop
“The future of Linux is everywhere.”
user. But for anyone
- Dylan Danzeiser
that does not, at least, feel very comfortable with Windows, Linux is going to be kind of iffy for them. The second one is that nobody runs Linux and things like Microsoft Word and
choices,” Danzeiser said, “If you didn’t
practically every video game in existence
like transparency, you were kind of stuck
don’t run on Linux.”
with it. In Linux, there are hundreds of themes and all of them look different.” Linux has tens of window desktop
Then only way to get programs, such
mainframe computers do, too. Also, every Android cellphone, dominating 61 percent of the global cellphone market, runs on a touch-
friendly form of Linux. “I see that Linux is going to really expand to the global market because as computers get smaller and smaller, it’s going to get more and more likely that you’ll start carrying a tablet rather than a bulky laptop,” Danzeiser said.
as Microsoft Word, onto your computer is to run them in a virtual machine which
interface that are all look very different.
is a way of running Windows inside of
Some look and work like a Mac or
your Linux. Since formats such as .docx
a Windows machine, but some look
(the primary Word format) and .exe
completely different and unique.
(the format of all Windows programs)
What is Windows? Windows, developed by Microsoft, is labeled the most user-friendly operating
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Features /
The Inside Job
system. Windows development started
options,” Dell said, “you have the ability
obvious that normal keyboard and
in 1985 as a response to users’ growing
to modify software and run more
monitor pieces will become less useful. If
interest in Graphical User Interfaces
complicated programs.”
Microsoft could fix its problems, it would
such as Mac OS. According to Net Market Share, Windows holds about 92 percent of the desktop market share as compared with the Macintosh seven percent and the Linux one percent. Windows, like Macintosh, is a pay-toinstall OS. Unlike Macintosh, Windows can be installed on almost any computer or device.
Since Windows has become so easy to use, it has also become the most used
Austin Dell has used Windows
viruses.
What’s Next?
“Although it is nice to have an easy time installing software,” said Dell, “this also means that viruses can infect your computer and slow it down. On my old PC, there were many could not access any software at all because a ‘security app’ said that
has also used the Macintosh and Linux
browsers, like chrome, were not safe.”
systems, but prefers Windows for its “Windows allows you to do a lot more things than the Mac OS,” Dell said. According to Dell, Apple’s Macintosh
Windows: The Past and the Future “The most glaring problem with Windows is the ease for a virus to infect
not have the features and extensibility of
a computer,” Dell said. “On the other
the Windows machine.
hand, Windows is the easiest to use.” According to Dell, if Windows could
Linux, is compatible with the most used
fix its security issues, then Linux and
file format: .exe, or Windows Executable.
other operating systems will become out
Since this file format is proprietary to
of date.
the Windows OS, no one else can run or modify the files. “PC’s are used for gaming and have fast internet and more customizable
20 Unzipped
may be making an early appearance as of 2014.
- Austin Dell
“Eventually, home computers will be gone, as laptops are becoming increasingly popular along with tablets,” Dell said. Apple’s desktop
market may be declining, but a new
is only an expensive web browser. It does
A Windows machine, unlike a Mac and
Windows 8.1, codenamed Windows Blue,
“If Microsoft could fix its problems, it would continue to be the most widely used OS.”
exclusively for the past five years. Dell
extensibility and ease of use.
desktop OS.”
OS. This familiarity comes with a cost:
moments when I
The Windows Experience
continue to be the most widely used
“I am not sure what the future of Windows entails,” Dell said, “as we continue in this era of touch screens and eye tracking, it is becoming increasingly
revolutionary design may change Macintosh forever. “They probably will end up making a new tablet, just like Microsoft has done with the Surface Pro,” Thompson said. Linux’s market share has already been increasing for many years in practically every market. “The future of Linux is everywhere,” Danzeiser said.
The
Demise of Apple by John DiCarlo
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The Demise of Apple
A
year-and-a-half ago, Apple was a big
competition.
“Apple has lost its monopoly on the market.”
company and still growing
quickly. Then after Steve Jobs left, they started to
- Niels Kornerup
fall. Their stock fell 20
Most teenagers, when they are purchasing smart phones for the first time, aren’t choosing Apple. “Apple has lost its monopoly on the market,”
points in 4 days before going back up. Now, Apple is a company that
Kornerup has had a Samsung HTC
teenager Niels Kornerup said.
is starting to lose in the flurry of the
EVO phone since 2012 and he really enjoys it better than the Apple devices that his family owns. “I just own an iPod 4 and use iTunes,” he said. While he has had a positive experience with them, he says he enjoys the Samsung much more. Kornerup isn’t
Devices Inspired by Apple Products Apple
Copy
Courtesy of vacacioneslagunasuite.com
Courtesy of androidphonephotos.com
Courtesy of therandomforrest.com 22 Unzipped
Courtesy of moselectronics.ru
the only person not choosing Apple any more. According to Forbes, In 2012 only 88 percent of iPhone owners were choosing iPhones as their next phone, down from 93 percent in 2011. This shows that other companies are able to
owns an iPhone, an iPad and an iMac.
Apple, also thinks Apple is still stable.
“They’re emphasizing competition, but there’s still a lot of people that use
“Apple has never had a better line of products,” Satterwhite said.
Apple,” he said. “I heard recently that
He says that the reason that Apple
more people that are changing from normal phone to smart
something but there’s
“Apple has never had a better line of products”
Apple is starting to lose in. Tablet
still a lot more people
- Jeff Satterwhite
sales are declining as well. According
using Apple products than other
to businessinsider.com, they have cut
things.”
take Apple’s customers and are doing better.
phones are using Android more than an iPhone or
It’s not just the phone market that
10-12 million iPad Mini shipments in the second quarter of 2013, because of competition, and they will lose money if they don’t sell the iPads. products instead of the competition. He
decline is because of poor public relations in the press. He also said that “if Apple announces what it is working on then everyone copies
them”. This is where Apple messed up.
According to Martinez, the reason Apple became big is because what they made were “Basically, [they’re] just new products that no one’s really seen
Teen Michael Martinez uses Apple
seems to be on the
before.”
He said that where Apple really took of was the fact that he “could draw anything [he] wanted on the computer”. This was the Mac SE. However, the other companies started making computers
Jeff Satterwhite, a consultant for
that were similar.
Apple’s Stock Since the First iPhone A. Release of iPhone (original)
E. Release of iPad 3G
B. Release of iPhone 3G
F. Release of iPhone 5
C. Release of iPad
G. Current Decline
D. Release of iPhone 4S
E
F
G
D
A
B
C
Stocks Courtesy of Yahoo! Finance Unzipped 23
Features / The Demise of Apple This is exactly what happened. The
and different that everyone wanted,
earlier, Apple has cut tablet sales. But
competition produced the same things
shown by the fact that thousands of
the real danger for Apple is if a different
as Apple, so the ground was even until
people lined up at Apple stores to get
company releases something completely
one company comes out with something
it. But then the other companies copied
new and different. Then Apple will
completely innovative and new.
again with Windows coming out with
have to play the catch up game. This
All these speculations can be proven by looking into Apple’s past. In 1998, Apple released the iMac, a completely new device that everybody wanted because it was a computer and monitor in one. This lead to their stock splitting two-for-one in 2001 and in 2005 and they were making more money. But then, other companies started copying
the Windows Phone and
very similar to the iPhone,
“Now is probably the worst Apple’s ever been.”
so Apple’s stock was level
- Niels Kornerup
Android coming out with the Nexus 4, which are
until they came out with the first
iPad (see the stock graph on the previous page) and the cycle just kept on going, and it still is going.
is why Apple is in a very dangerous position right now. Kornerup enjoyed Apple, but he thinks that “they’ve been on steady
decline since [the iPhone 5 came out] so now is probably their worst [they’ve ever been]”. Again, he says that this is
Apple. Microsoft released Windows XP
Right now, Apple is in the section
because “Apple has lost its monopoly in
in 2001, and as their stock shows, Apple
where they are going nowhere and the
the market” which is what happens to all
was going nowhere until they released
competition has caught up because the
of the companies that are falling towards
the iPhone, something completely new
newest thing is the tablets. As stated
demise.
Apple Stores
24 Unzipped
Then
Now
Image Courtesy of two4ever.blogspot.com
Image Courtesy of businessinsider.com
Windows Azure
Try it, you’ll love it. Guaranteed. A rock-solid cloud platform for blue-sky thinking. See what you can do with Windows Azure. Get a free 90day trial at windowsazure.com. Unzipped 25
The first computer with the ability to recognize human linguistic patterns and the first robot to participate, and win, in Jeopardy.
Watson is a system designed for answers. Let’s see what he can do.
Standard Jeopardy Question
The first person mentioned by
This is a standard Jeopardy clue in the tricky Jeopardy format. It is hard for a human to understand, let alone a computer. Why can’t a computer understand questions like we do?
name in ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ is this hero of a previous book by the same author. 101101110100100
Computers 110011101001101100 Today and, or, if
Nouns People
else, then, true The Goal: What is Human Speech a bank?
Financial Institution? Edge of a River?
Computers today understand code and keywords, not nouns or verbs, let alone the relationships between them. Computers today cannot understand human speech. What can Watson do?
Zoo
Places Dog
Things
Natural Language Ambiguity in Context Text to Speech
Human speech is ambiguous and full of complexity. So Watson consumes large amounts of information on as many topics as possible before it even gets near a game board.
1099511627776
3 seconds
8 The number of large refrigerators it would
100%
The data storage capacity (in bytes) of IBM Watson, equivalent to 4 Terabytes.
take to house Watson.
POWER7 The name of the processor used in IBM Wat-
son, also the most efficient processor to date.
2880 The number of processors it takes to power Watson.
The time it takes all the processors to answer a typical Jeopardy question.
The percent of Watson’s processors being used at any given time.
Watson can download up to 4 Terabytes of data, including the full text of Wikipedia, before each match. It then uses its 2880 core POWER7 to process the questions during the match. How does he use this knowledge base to answer a question?
Standard Jeopardy Question
Step 1 question
The first person mentioned by
This is a standard Jeopardy clue in the tricky Jeopardy format. It is in the human language, Mask’ is this hero of a previousWhat kind of question is it? not something a computer can easily understand. book by the same author. name in ‘The Man in the Iron
What is it asking for?
First person name in ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ hero previous book same author
Analysis
Step 2
Hypothesis Generation
Step 3 Evidence Scoring
Question type?
hero in ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ also in previous book by same author
Person (Hero)
hero in ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ evidence for against
d’Artagnan
Puzzle Question
database
also in previous book by same author
hero in ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ also in previous book by same author
Step 4 Final Ranking
Kind of answer?
78%
contains evidence for and against hypothesis
Who isd’Artagnan?
Art by: Arthur Pachachura
Sources: ibmwatson.com; wikipedia.com; researchandmarkets.com
Now Watson looks through all the possible question arrangements and finds thousands of possible answers for each variation of the question.
From all the previous hypothesis, Watson scores all the answers based on the database downloaded before the match.
Now that Watson has his answer, he decides whether to ring in or not by a ‘Buzz 78% Threshold’ indicator, based on the risk of Buzz Threshold getting the answer right or wrong. If the confidence is greater than the threshold, Watson will answer.
Confidence Level
Times Buzzed In Buzz Accuracy Winnings Category Confid. $ Left on Table
At first, Watson does not know what kind of question he was asked, so he separates it into its parts of speech and sorts through all the possibilities of what the question may be asking for.
The future is in the cloud
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