Get Premier Cyan to buy me something week of 3/5 and Hack for week 3/12!

Get Premier Cyan to buy me something!
I received this mission 2 weeks ago and Cyan was not in class.
So I couldn't get him to buy me something.
Mission failed!


Get someone to give you their seat on the T!
I'm hoping to ride the T this st. patty's day weekend and "pretend"
to be too intoxicated to stand. Hopefully an empathetic passenger will
take mercy and lend me their seat.
I will attempt to get pictures. Wish me luck.

The Class After Spring Break

If as many of you as possible could come to class at 2:00 after spring break (I promise to end class early to compensate you) I would really appreciate if we could start a bit early that day! 

Thanks!

This is "Ryan" from the previous post.

[deleted for confidentiality]

Get this Piece of paper (the one given in class containing the hack of the week) into Ryan's ( I guess the name should be Cyan)'s pocket.

This was an easy do. During class, when he was pretty much attentive listening to the lecture, i was busy sneaking the piece of material into his coat pocket.
Man, you should be my neighbor for life.  As of now, I am more conscious than ever before about any one and every one, and what they are doing around me.
I believe that his name is Cyan and not Ryan.

Equality for all?

First, read Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut.
This question has two parts.  First, Harrison Bergeron was written in 1961.  What could technology do today, fifty years later, to make everyone "equal" as they are in the story?  What avenues are available?  What about the virtual world...is everyone equal online?
Second, is equality necessarily a good  thing?  How do we discern between "good" equality and the dystopian forced equality of Harrison Bergeron?

Hacking For the Civic Good

The South by South West Festival (SXSW) is going on down in Texas, and the festival offered an interesting panel relating to civil engagement this year. I thought this was an interesting read because of how the term "hacker" is used and because we've never looked at the flip side of the definition; using data and know how for the public good.

“A lot of people are really happy calling themselves civic hackers and self-defining that way, and saying, 'Yeah, I'm hacking, I'm coding, I'm taking data and trying to make it useful and using it in new ways,''

 

Find Out Mr. Orchid's Data Of Birth

I had high hopes for this hack because I already had some basic information. My plan was to use that info to search on-line, and even shell out a couple of bucks if need be. There are a multitude of places you can get personal information on the web these days, and I planned on going that route. Once I gathered enough info, I could use it to gain the bit of information in the title of this post. What I already knew:

• He's originally from Jersey
• He lives in East Boston
• His license plate # (just happened to see in parking lot)
• His first, last, and middle initial from his BHCC E-mail.

Using the plate #, I ran a registration inquiry at the RMV website, but there wasn't much helpful information in there. The plate information didn't up helping my cause at all. Maybe the VIN would have helped more.....

In the end, none of the other bits of information that I had helped me either. All of the people searches that I used turned up people MUCH older or lots of results without middle names. Short of calling every person, I didn't have an effective way to narrow the field. Facebook was also a huge let down as a source of information! I even employed my step daughter who is a crack data miner, and both of us combed through hundred's of Mr Orchids to no avail. Unless Mr. Orchid changed his ethnicity and recently lost 100 pounds, I couldn't find him.

So another week, another failure, but I'm going to get one soon!

CapnCrunch