Mat Honan's Epic Hack, 3 Phases, Automation

The past two weeks contained the ascension from Phase 2 to Phase 3 IS101-3002, Spring 2024 for most students in the class.

The two top performers each took a different path. One focused on preparing for and taking the MO-210 Excel certification exam first while the other focused finishing Bonus Quiz 11 on-time. Both Haridev (Dev) and Glenda passed the Excel certification exam along with seven others, joining Kiet who defeated MO-210 more than a month ago.

Rarely has a student taken all eleven bonus quizzes and for as long as I can remember, no student has ever earned a perfect score on BQ11. Glenda and Dev both achieved this feat this semester. I am extremely proud of them :-) I look forward to see how they perform on the upcoming BQ12 & 13 (given together) and the final BQ14 on our final class session.

Half of BQ11 is based on another rare gem of an article I encountered in my past years. Not only is it rare for someone to walkthrough being a victim of a social engineering scam and this article was written by a reporter who skillfully regaled us with every nuance of the scam and his emotions, but Mat Honan's story illustrated that we as individuals are not the only vulnerable targets but entities that holds our data are too!

Two class sessions ago, Brandon played tour guide for us on My [His] Journey Through Tennis. Illness has prevented the athletic young man from presenting the week prior, but his creative slideshow was finally seen by the class. In yesterday's class session, Kaleah (Eden) took us down our individual memory lanes as the avid collector showcased My [His/Her/Theirs] Console Collection. At least one of the Sony and Nintendo gaming consoles resonated with an audience member. Mine was Playstation 1, but the other, Nintendo Entertainment System, was not shown.

In the past two weeks, many students have completed their A6 Spreadsheet with Trailer and A7 Mail Merge using Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) is starting to trickle in. The former is the apex of Phase 2: Determined and Analytical and the latter is giving students the opportunity to transition into Phase 3 Creative and Independent. This coming Saturday, I will walk through A6 with the class to help them prepare for BQ12 & 13 which can raise their course grade by half a letter grade.

Click on the image for a larger/clearer view

Click on the image for a larger/clearer view

Click on the image for a larger/clearer view

Students,

(1) Instead of step-by-step instructions or a topic covered by LabSim, A7 simulates a business scenario outside of the classroom. How was your experience in analyzing A7's requirements and using the Mail Merge wizard and files given to you to fulfill the requirements?

(2) Choose one from these two -- or do both ^_^

(a) Mat Honan's Epic Hack article may have been published in 2012, but the lessons and consequences still applies today! I extracted the article's content for a cleaning reading experience free of ads and distractions into a PDF attached to Discussion 11 in Canvas. Please read it and share your thoughts in your comment on how you would change your cybersecurity hygiene in better protecting yourself.

(b) John Oliver's 2019 video on Automation looked into the past on how automation shaped our lives and how automation and artificial intelligence may shape our lives going forward. What are your thoughts on what he presented? Do you think the 2013 report mentioned in the video is on target? How do you think you may be affected by automation or artificial intelligence?

Straight vs. Weighted Average, Visualization, Beyond Formulas & Functions

Yesterday's class session was the most interactive yet!

As usual, Haridev (Dev) and Glenda showed up 7 AM to test their metal against a bonus quiz. This week, Dev took the pole position in scoring on Bonus Quiz 10. After I gave the class an overview on what's to come in next few weeks, Hunter educated the class on What is an Ethernet Cable? I used the remaining classroom session for the second half of lecture/demonstration 4: Key Excel and Spreadsheet Analysis Concepts which includes my favorite signature walkthrough that engages and challenges students more than before. The closing topic of L4 was my signature decision tree that helps translate one's numbers and calculations into something that the audience find much easier to comprehend.

A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer definitely give students a new opportunity to demonstrate what their Microsoft Excel knowledge and skills. Up until now, students are accustomed to step-by-step instructions and the simulation grading engine of LabSim. The Spreadsheet Analysis portion of A6 allow students to show their individuality while with Trailer takes students from the quantitative to the qualitative!

Click on the image for a larger/clearer view

Hunter gave us an underneath the hood/cover view to an ethernet cable's connecting ends and different types of ethernet cables. I like his closing slide showing himself working with an ethernet cable doing what it does best: connecting devices and transmitting data.

My 'Household', 'Portfolio', 'Stock', 'Clinic' scenarios placed the nine students in attendance center and front stage in thinking and re-thinking through each scenario to answer the question. Justin, Dev, and Madi, courageously voiced their thinking and re-thinking :-)

Afterwards, I solicited feedbacks from the nine students. Anthony and Madi bravely shared their discomfort with mathematics. I replied: "These scenarios are more logic than mathematics" -- they involve only simple operations such as addition, subtraction, division, and order of operations. When to use a weighted average vs. a straight average, correctly and fully understanding what the question is asking for, do you even have the necessary raw numbers to do the calculation, are all logic in nature, not mathematics or even Microsoft Excel.

Numbers and "mathematics" often intimidate or overwhelm people, especially when presented in large quantity. One way to mitigate that is to use charts and graphs to visually represent the information. But this can also be place where one's logic falters unintentionally or intentionally. The lower right corner image below illustrates the faltering/misleading representation vs. the logical on-point representation.

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Looking beyond IS101 and much into the past, a brilliant piece of creative storytelling always stood out in my mind and have been part of my A6's with Trailer since I laid eyes on it. The context of that brilliance is this: during the 2008 recession, then Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Chancellor James E. Rogers illustrating the importance of what higher education faculty do in defense from looming budget cuts.

Click on the image for a larger/clearer view

Students,

If you have yet to complete A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer, be sure to complete it and send it in before commenting on this blog post.

(1) What was your experience in doing the Spreadsheet Analysis portion of A6?

(2) What was your experience in doing the with Trailer portion of A6?

Please watch this 24 min 27 sec video: Pig Butchering Scams: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO).

(3) In this video, a bank's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), fell for a social engineering scam and lost more than double what the CEO and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) lost in the article mentioned in my last week's blog post. Have you experienced or seen a social engineering scam? How was it played out?