Noel Zarnosky's Blog

The very first 3D printing began in Japan in the 1980s.  Hideo Kodama is credited as the inventor, although he was never able to obtain a patent.  The modern day model still remains similar looking to his prototypes.  The first patent was filed by Charles Hull, for Stereolithography.  3D printing is where layers of filament are laid on top of each other, then cured under a UV light.  Fused Deposition Modeling, or Fused Filament Fabrication, soon came, which was different because the filament was pushed through a heated nozzle rather than using a light.  The first commercial 3D printer became available in 2006, although they were not used widely by the public until the 2010s because of the price.  

3D printing used CAD technology, which allows for people to design models on a computer before it is actually printed.  This can be useful for making sure size, angles, and function will be ideal, and can save a lot of time with trial and error and having to reprint.  3D printing also uses a graphics card which makes the program run faster and smoother, a CPU for easy processing, a RAM, and a hard drive for extra storage. 

Over the years they have been used to make models, small functioning parts, hearing aids, and prosthetics.  Because the accuracy of printers has developed so well, it has allowed scientists to develop exact parts that work when they could not before.  The filaments used have changed over time as well.  Now, a variety of filaments are used, from plastic, glass and carbon fibers, and even food like chocolate.  By offering a variety of materials, it can be used in almost any circumstance.

While 3D printing is a very useful piece of technology, there are some dangers.  Questions about the safety of the filaments and how they impact our health, as well as the amount of energy the printers have to use to run.  Other problems include the ethical situation surrounding bioprinting, and the possibility of dangerous things that can be created.

Widespread adoption of this technology is revolutionary.  It is so versatile since it can produce pretty much anything out of any material.  In every aspect of life it can create convenience and solve problems.

As for the future, scientists have begun to develop a lot with 3D printers.  They are making rockets that will function more efficiently in space.  Electric cars and shuttles have been prototyped and tested.    Even a breakthrough in healthcare can be made, as scientists are experimenting with artificial tissues and other regenerative processes using collagen.  The future of 3D printing may not always be a success, but it seems promising for certain issues and has already helped a lot of people. 

Sources:

“The dark side of 3D printing: 10 things to watch”, Gilpin Lyndsey, Tech Republic, March 5, 2015, Accessed July 31, 2022, https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-dark-side-of-3d-printing-10-things-to-watch/

“What Does the Future of 3D Printing Look Like?”, Suzuki Emily, Autodesk, January 5, 2021, Accessed July 31, 2022, https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/3d-printing-future/

“When Was 3D Printing Invented? The History of 3D Printing”, BCN3D, May 15, 2020, Accessed July 31, 2022, https://www.bcn3d.com/the-history-of-3d-printing-when-was-3d-printing-invented/#:~:text=The%20first%20documented%20iterations%20of,was%20polymerized%20by%20UV%20light.

“5 Must Have Hardware for 3D Printing with CAD Software”, 3DEngr Submissions, 3DEngr.com, April 14, 2018, Accessed July 31, 2022, https://www.3dengr.com/5-must-hardware-3d-printing-cad-software.html

One of the most popular apps in the top ten from 2021 was Spotify.  Spotify, launched in 2008, is an app that gives its users access to music, podcasts and other digital media.  There are different plans with this app, which can provide certain benefits like no advertisements, unlimited skips, and downloads for offline listening.  These plans can range from free to $15.99.

Because the Spotify library is so big, it can be hard to find the types of songs you want.  One tip for narrowing down a search is to use keywords like year:1971-76, which will provide you with music from that time.  This also works with different categories like genre and label.  If you’ve found a song you like, but don’t know where to go from there, hit go to radio, and more from the same categories will be played.  Finally, one way to stay safer on Spotify is to opt-out of personalized ads, which can protect some of your identity.  You can also turn all of your privacy settings off through your profile settings.   

Another top ten from 2021 was Telegram.  This free app, built in 2013, functions like most other messenger apps, you can message others, have group conversations, and send files.  However, Telegram is special because it focuses on the safety of users, and uses an encryption code to protect all messages and files, and messages can even self-destruct.  Telegram provides open software, and they utilize the cloud so you can access your messages from any device, and easily store everything you need to.  One other bonus is that Telegram can send files up to 2GB in size.

This app’s basics already offer a lot, but there are many more tips and tricks to get even more.  One tip for using Telegram, is that the app can be set to automatically translate other languages.  They also have a “spoiler” button, if you would like a message to be hidden up to a specific point. Finally, you can save/pin important messages to refer back to at any time in a separate folder. 

Sources:

https://open.spotify.com/

https://telegram.org/

“Become a Telegram Master With These 10 Tips and Tricks”, Nield David, Featured, May 29, 2022, Accessed July 20, 2022, https://www.wired.com/story/10-telegram-tips-tricks/

“Getting Started”, Spotify, Accessed July 20, https://support.spotify.com/us/app-help/getting-started/

“Most Popular Apps (2022)”, Curry David, Business of Apps, May 11, 2022, Accessed July 20, 2022, https://www.businessofapps.com/data/most-popular-apps/

“Spotify for $0.99 a month? Music streaming service tests lower-cost plans”, Molina Brett, USAToday, August 4, 2021, Accessed July 20, 2022, https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/08/04/spotify-music-streaming-test-includes-plans-sta

rting-0-99-month/5482009001/

“What is Telegram and why should I use it?”, Gordon Adam Scott and Fernandez Nick, Android Authority, February 21, 2022, Accessed July 20, 2022, https://www.androidauthority.com/what-is-telegram-messenger-979357/

“15 Spotify tips to get more out of your Spotify Premium or free account”, Fernandez Nick, Android Authority, July 22, 2022, Accessed July 20, 2022, https://www.androidauthority.com/spotify-tips-free-premium-978381/

One application that I have used for as long as I can remember and never knew it was cloud based is Gmail, a system for exchanging emails.  It would only make sense though, as someone sends back and forth thousands of emails, and needs somewhere to store and save that information for future use.  This application likely would not work well if it were not on the cloud, because of all the storage required to maintain all the files, our devices would overload and crash frequently.  Having Gmail set up this way makes it so much easier as well to send things back and forth.  It allows for files and information to be readily available just with the internet, rather than finding files, uploading, and sending just for the other person to have to download and save your message.  Of course you still have the risk of spam, phishing, and a potential breach where you can lose important data if it isn’t backed up in any way.  Still, the convenience of the cloud probably trumps these risks in most cases.

Another application I use quite frequently that uses cloud based storage is Pandora.  It is an application that allows you to browse through tons of music and listen for free.  It was only a few years ago when they switched over to the cloud, and it runs a lot more smoothly now.  Because before they had to store all the music files to provide their listeners with, they had 13 billion stations supporting all the data, and still the usage was putting a strain on the programs and the workers, so the cloud based storage route is the better way.  This also makes it a whole lot faster and convenient for listeners.  There are risks of some small glitches, but nothing very damaging to the listener should be a concern. 

Sources:

“Gmail is an Example of What Type of Cloud Computing Service Model?”, Ratnesh, Security Escape, January 1, 2022, Accessed July 17, 2022, https://securityescape.com/gmail-is-an-example-of-what-type-of-cloud-computing-service-model/

“Why Pandora Is Moving Its Data to the Cloud”, Bob Keaveney, BizTech, April 11, 2019, Accessed July 17, 2022,  https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2019/04/why-pandora-moving-its-data-cloud-1

The internet is such a powerful tool in both good and bad ways.  It can make life a lot more convenient but can also open up a whole new list of crimes.  One example of bad behavior on the internet is the Morris Worm, which happened in 1998.

A Harvard graduate, named Robbert Morris, was experimenting with programming to create something that could slowly travel the internet, and released a worm. A worm is different from a typical virus because it does not need a software host, it can survive and spread on its own.  The worm slowed everything down on the internet, preventing emails from being sent for days and even slowing down military operations.  The cost of the damages caused by this went up to around $10 million, but it is hard to pinpoint exactly how much.  

Morris contacted a friend, panicked that he had let the worm out and asked him to send out an email of warning, but because emails would not go through, the word did not spread very far.  The friend then contacted The New York Times through an anonymous phone call, to warn of the worm and say it was an accident.  The friend used his initials for the owner of the worm, and they pieced together who it was.

The FBI launched an investigation, finding Morris and questioning him, as well as decrypting his files which contained all the evidence.  It was found that he had broken the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which forbade access to protected computers without authorization.  He was found guilty by a jury, but was not sentenced to any jail time.  He was, however, fined, put under probation, and ordered to complete 400 hours of community service.

It may seem hard to protect yourself from a worm, as it cannot really be controlled.  After this incident though, our nation started developing cybersecurity and computer intrusion detection software.  There are still important measures of safety that can be taken to protect yourself from something like this.  First and foremost, get a strong antivirus and firewall system.  Also be careful on the internet, do not just click on random messages or ads, even in emails.  Finally, backup your important files and change passwords often.  A lot of prevention is just in paying attention to how you behave online, and keep yourself from being susceptible to falling victim to this bad behavior. 

Sources:

“Morris Worm”, fbi.gov, Accessed July 10, 2022, https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/morris-worm

“What Is a Computer Worm”, Vigderman Aliza, Turner Gabe, security.org, May 13, 2022, Accessed July 10, 2022, https://www.security.org/antivirus/computer-worm/

As the CIO of our company, I encounter a lot of threats to security and we need to be aware of what they are and how to overcome them.  One of the biggest threats are hackers.  This is also one of the more dangerous threats because it can directly impact our customers.  We run credit cards, billing, and payment information through our systems; If someone hacks into the systems, all of our customers’ information is available to them.  Two threats similar to this are if someone were to hack into our cloud storage, or a third party breach into the systems.  Both of these dangers put all of our information that deals with the business, and other businesses that we are involved with at risk.  If any of the supply chains are having security problems that can be a threat as well, since they have all of our information.  Finally we must be careful to watch out for spammers, as they can mislead to steal information.   

We have several systems at risk for these manipulations.  For one, our computers are subject to being hacked.  Being the main system that we use makes it crucial for them to be secure.  Also, Google Drives within our computer systems can be hacked, or information and files can be misplaced.  We also need to be careful with our credit card systems, as if they are hacked, all of our customers’ information can be stolen.  In relation to this, the wifi systems can be hacked, and then anything that runs on the wifi can be taken over.  The programs we use to create spreadsheets for billing and other information can be hacked, and without that information we cannot run our business.

With all of these issues and threats it may seem impossible to keep them away, however I have come up with a list of things we can do to make an effort to keep our systems as secure as possible.  With your cooperation, we are hoping to be able to make a safer environment for our customers and you.  Our goal and number one concern is your safety.

First and foremost, we need to start limiting what information is available to the public.  The bare minimum should be shared, only enough necessary for them to understand our business and how to become a customer.  In the same way we limit what the public knows, we need to limit the information the supply chains have.  If we limit this information, then if the supply chains are hacked, we can ensure that most of our information can stay safe.  We will also be changing the systems on the computers to limit the information they have access to, so we appreciate your compliance by not changing any settings back when prompted to.  It would also be appreciated if you would keep your Google Drive projects private, and keep backup files for everything you complete.  Finally we will be upgrading our cyber security insurance, to keep our customers, employees, and business safe. 

Sources:

“Top 3 Cyber Threats We See in Food & Beverage Manufacturing Supply Chains”, CybelAngel, March 1, 2022, Accessed July 3, 2022, 

https://cybelangel.com/top-3-cyber-threats-we-see-in-food-beverage-manufacturing-supply-chains/