Required Textbook
We will use Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion
by Abelson, Ledeen, Lewis for reading assignments about the digital revolution. You are required to acquire this book, either
by purchasing it or by downloading PDF
copies of its chapters.
Reading Assignment
Read Chapter 3 of Blown
to Bits (25 pages). This chapter talks about hidden information in
and associated with documents and the various mishaps that can happen
if one is unaware of such information.
Reading Questions
Post answers to the following questions on a Portfolio page. We will
discuss these in class.
- What is metadata? Give an example.
- What is a model, as this term is used
in how images and sound recordings are digitized?
- What's the difference between a raster image
and an ASCII representation of a text document?
- What is steganography and what is it used for?
- What would you have to do to delete a document
from your computer so that it could not possibly be
read by anyone else?
Portfolio
Your answers to the above questions should be recorded on
a new portfolio page. Name it "Blown to Bits, Ch3" or something
similar.