Seminars

Autonomous “…” and the Law

Autonomous machines perform actions and reactions based predictions implemented in code designed by a human being. As we move further into autonomy, who is legally responsible for the actions of an autonomous machine? If the producing company and/or the programming engineer(s) can be held legally liable for the actions of the machines that they produce, will this hinder or cancel the pursuit of autonomous machines?

Gathering People’s Private Data

At the heart of privacy and computing is the right for companies to mine and harvest users’ data. This seminar introduces a background on the state of data capture, how companies do it, and the controversies arising from conflicting international standards (GDPR vs. US) for multinationals.

Git and GitHub

Every project needs to exist somewhere. This seminar introduces a popular web-based hosting service, GitHub, which uses a version-control software (known as Git) to create, update, and share projects with the world.

ISPs and Net Neutrality

How do internet service providers interact with content providers and customers? This seminar goes in depth into the structure of the internet with special attention to who has the data and how the recent net neutrality controversy can play out technically.

Law Firm Websites: A Look under the Hood

This seminar takes a look under the hood at a range of law firm websites and discusses how the general design principles studied in class are being used (or abused) in the wild. Tools students have learned such as View Source and Developer Tools will be used to explore and critique a range of sites. Discussion will center on what types of design are most likely to attract clients and to be secure.

M&A and the Legality of Acquiring another Company’s Code

What is the due dilligence protocol for acquiring a company that brings IP (proprietary source code in this case) with it? Can you be certain that the seller or those privy to the IP prior to the sale do not leak any proprietary information? If not, what, if anything, can be put in place to deter folks from doing so?

  • Slides

The Quantum Edge: Computing, Cryptography and Communication

This seminar provides a gentle introduction to all things quantum: how quantum computers work including current modalities and prospects, the implications for RSA encryption, and the rise of new, more secure, quantum-based encryption and communication systems.

  • Slides

Web Programming with Flask

We’ve seen how to leverage HTML and CSS to create simple web pages, but those are just two ingredients of web programming. This seminar will introduce a popular micro-framework known as Flask, which is used to create small web applications that support behavior such as user registration/login, API integration, and dynamic HTML generation.

Python Workshop

A Python workshop to review syntax and attempt to solve practice problems!