Innovation Technologies

Which of the following is NOT a benefit of cloud computing?

• Data can be backed up offsite to protect against local emergencies or disasters.

• Users can access data from any remote location or setting that has online access.

• Multiple users can collaboratively interact with shared data.

• Cloud data cannot be subpoenaed by law enforcement.

Which of the following is a direct consequence of the “digital divide”?

• Internet service providers throttle available bandwidth to customers based upon the type of data being transferred.

• Members of poorer or more remote communities are excluded from the benefits of essential online services and resources.

• Online services collect and sell personal information about customers based upon usage patterns.

• Internet users are able to ensure secure communication channels through the use of strong encryption.

Which of the following best describes the client-server model of online computing systems?

• Using a client application, like a web browser, a user transmits requests over the internet to a remote server that responds with the requested web page or other digital resource, which is transmitted back to the original user.

• Individual users, known as clients, purchase online connectivity from internet service providers, known as servers.

• A web site uses a variety of client applications to automatically generate dynamic web content that individual users serve to each other.

• The internet consists of a network of interconnected nodes, known as client-server devices, that route communications back and forth between one client-server and its nearest neighbor.

Which of the following best describes the function of the domain name system (DNS)?

• DNS is a service that individuals or corporations can use to purchase and register ownership of domain names.

• The domain name system is a non-profit organization that regulates the introduction and assignment of new, top-level domains (TLD).

• DNS provides a directory service that associates a domain name with the IP addresses of the server hosting the domain.

• DNS determines the most efficient route through a network that a document should follow as it is transmitted from one node to the next.

Which of the following is a reason for systems to adopt a new internet protocol standard (IPv6) instead of the original standard (IPv4)?

• IPv6 allows data to be transferred at much higher speeds than with IPv4.

• IPv6 allows a much larger range of addresses than IPv4.

• IPv6 enables encrypted communication, whereas IPv4 does not.

• IPv6 offers lossless compression of data, whereas IPv4 uses lossy compression Algorithms.

When Tim Berners-Lee developed the first specifications, protocols, and tools for the World Wide Web in 1993, his employers at CERN chose to make the underlying code publicly available on a royalty-free basis so that anyone who ever wanted to use it or build upon it could do so without having to pay any licensing fees to CERN or ask for CERN’s permission.

Which of the following best describes the reasons for this decision?

• CERN did not recognize the full potential of the World Wide Web and did not think it was worth investing any more of its own resources into its further development.

• By offering the Word Wide Web as a freely available alternative, CERN hoped to discourage people from using America Online, CERN’s biggest competitor for online communication services.

• Had the technology been proprietary (i.e., closed and privately licensed), it would likely not have become as popular as it has or have been adopted by so many users and institutions across the globe.

• Because Tim Berners-Lee did not ask his employers for permission before using CERN resources to develop the World Wide Web, as punishment, he was required to give the technology away for free and sacrifice the millions of dollars he could have personally made by selling his idea for a profit.

A pair of young entrepreneurs has decided to use an online crowdfunding website to launch a campaign designed to raise funds for a programmable kitchen appliance that they envision designing, selling and building a business around.

Which of the following technological advances has NOT contributed toward making this new form of fundraising possible?

• GPS (Global Positioning System)

• Encryption

• World Wide Web

• Online banking and e-commerce

Which of the following is an example of a service that utilizes an asymmetric, “publisher-subscriber” model for distributing online communications?

• Video conferencing

• SMS text messaging

• Online chat

• Blogging

Urban planners have proposed the creation and installation of “smart intersections” that can replace existing traffic lights in congested urban areas. Rather than regulating traffic flow with alternating red (“Stop”), yellow (“Caution”), and green (“Go”) lights that human drivers obey, a centralized “intersection controller” device would wirelessly communicate directly with the onboard computers in autonomous vehicles to coordinate how and when it is safe for them to proceed through the intersection.

In such a scenario, a car approaching an intersection would wirelessly signal the intersection’s controller unit with its current speed and distance to request permission to enter the intersection. The controller would then dynamically calculate the ideal “entry” and “exit” times for when the car can safely proceed through the intersection without colliding with any other vehicles that might also be passing through the intersection from other directions at the same moment. As it calculates the trajectories for all approaching vehicles, the controller would relay instructions to each car, which would then adjust its own speed so that it arrives at the intersection at the right time and speed to pass through the intersection untouched. For non-autonomous vehicles, a secondary visual signaling device (something similar to existing traffic lights) would need to be devised that would allow any human drivers to interact safely with the computer-controlled vehicles passing through the intersection.

Researchers have shown through computer simulations and modeling that such “smart intersections” would be capable of simultaneously coordinating the actions of up to two dozen cars all approaching the same intersection from four different directions safely without collisions or delays. Their studies have shown that in cases with as few as half of all cars having the necessary autonomous driving technology to work with such systems, they could relieve traffic congestion at busy intersections by almost 50% and reduce the time that drivers currently sit at red lights by more than 65%.

Despite these promising results, much work needs to be done before these “smart intersections” can be deployed throughout cities. Which of the following is NOT a step that lawmakers would need to resolve in order to make “smart intersections” a reality?

• New traffic laws would need to be written for existing intersections that specify how autonomous vehicles should handle the standard red-yellow- green traffic signals of standard intersections.

• New traffic laws would need to be written for “smart intersections” that specify how human drivers (i.e., those operating vehicles that are NOT fully autonomous) should handle the secondary visual signals of computer-controlled “smart intersections.”

• Liability would need to be determined in the event of accidents caused by faulty intersection controllers and/or autonomous vehicles.

• Regulations must be passed that specify the minimum hardware and software requirements of fully autonomous vehicles so that they are compatible with the “smart intersections.”

Which of the following best describes the controversies surrounding the ethics of pre-programmed decision-making with regards to self-driving cars and other autonomous technologies?

• I only

• I and II

• II and III

• I, II and III