Spring 2020

Here we are as I write this blog post now it is March 14th we are in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic throughout our nation but no need to be alarmed we will for sure work this out I have confidence in our society. If you are reading this and have an open soruce project in regards to COVID-19 feel free to reach out to me I would love to contribute to it. But i digress as I write this to you I’m currently in CS 6238 Secure Computer Systems (SCS) and I got to say the course is very interesting and definitley thought provoking with weekly quizzes on lecture material and four projects which are composed of: paging in memory, Two Factor Authentication, Setuid vulnerabilities & Distributed Systems. This class is a very good advanced security class and I look forward to many other courses which I will take throughout my time at Georgia Tech.

TA For CS 6035

So below this post should be a blurb about how I just started my adventures at Georgia Tech Online. A little over halfway through the course the Teacher Assistants for this course released a form to fill out if you are interested in being a Teacher Assistant I was interested since I was one in my undergrad so i applied. Long story short i ended up getting the spot so now as I write this to you as I’m a TA for CS 6035 (by the time this is being written i already completed the course). I was thrilled to accept the offer and help out students.

Georgia Tech Online masters in Cybersecurity(OMSCY)…Not to be confused with Georgia Tech’s Online Masters in Computer Science (OMSCS)

I haven’t been on here for a while i guess i should give a status update as to how everything is going. Well I recently (fall 2019) started at Georgia Tech for an online masters in cybersecurity. It has been an incredible time so far and i’m only two semesters in. First semester I took two classes PUBP 6725 Information Security Policies & CS 6035 Introduction to Information Security. The Policy class talked about the socoeconomic effect and governing effects of cybersecurity throughout the world and different policies and proceudres which people utilize in order to form a more safe, secure world. The CS 6035 course covered information security from the ground up from buffer overflows, firewalls, access control, cryptography and web vulnerabilities. This course was awesome beause of all the hands on project we got to do like overflowing a buffer, malware analysis, RSA & Python and last but not least SQL injection and XSS attacks. I highly reccomend this course for anyone interested in security but it can be tough for some people due to its programming nature.

Cypress PSOC 6

I’m excited I got this new embedded systems board the PSOC 6 by Cypress it seems like an awesome board and I’m excited to start developing with it!!

Sensors

I enjoy working with the raspberry pi hardware platform. Everday I use the platform whether its for designing PIR motion Sensor modules in python for the students in my department, showing them how to write python scripts in order to use computer vision in the raspberry pi camera module. It can be a lot of things those are just some examples sensors are key to unlocking a lot of truths in our universe and that’s the point I want them to understand in addition I want them to understand how hardware and software work on a low level to make different common househeld items run “sudoish”

First Robotics Long Island

The FIRST Robotics Long Island Regional Competition is this week (03/27/19) and there are teams from Long Island to Turkey here all around the world! It is quite a sight. The partcipats are High School members from grades 9 to 12 and they recieve a kit of parts in January where they need to devise a “sudo” robot then eventually after they get through that they are tasked with developing a robot in 6 weeks! That’s crazy all the testing, development and such is done in these 6 weeks and of course they get parts from FIRST but still kind of crazy. Each group has a high school advisor on it in order to guide them on their journey. I saw some pretty awesome inventions at the event there was a robot which had a suction cup on it, a pulley/axle shaft based system to launch little orange balls. If you are at Hofstra Univeristy this week defintley check it out!!! They always look for sponsors also!

Smart Grid Security

I’m by no means an expert in any field of study but I am a curious student for life. One of the topics which I’ve never understood is smart grid security. I’ve read some basic papers/articles and I understand the basics of what a smart grid is but I couldn’t hold a conversation with someone about it for more than 5 minutes. If anyone who reads this has a good resource for understanding Smart Grid Technology defintley let me know or even refer me to a GitHub which might illustrate it I’m open to pretty much anything. The reason I ask all of you who read this (or maybe nobody reads this) is because I just am curious about the topic a professor where I worked briefly mentioned the topic and it fascinated me.

Update

Well I gave the program at the West Babylon Public Library and it went well. I had everyone in there from ages of fourth grade to 65 years of age. All people interested in electronics/ former IT programmers. They were talking about Peach Tree and Basic and all these old school tech things. They all learned a lot and I sent them all my powerpoint. In the program they all blinked and held LED lights on it took two hours to go through it all (Oy!) but still worth it. Hopefully the next program will be on Python or Web site development. In addition I taught Arduinos at our STEM Diversity Summit at Farmingdale State College students form Uniondale and Brooklyn High School were there and we hada great tech conversation about StackOverflow, GitHub and many other stuff. Teaching electronics and showcasing the knowledge which I learned to these students is awesome I really enjoy it.

Giving Back to the Community

At the core of who I am is the need to give back. The first way I give back is helping students in Computer Science, Calculus and engineering classes by helping them I figure they will learn something new and who knows I might also. (there’s no cost free help! my mentality is I love puzzles and maybe I’ll learn something new from it so let’s just give it the old college try.) The second way I give back is at work we have a STEM diversity summit which I volunteer for and show the kids how the Arduino platform works. These kids come from all different middle and high schools and they are always ready to learn. The third way I give back is that I just recently set up a program at the West Babylon Public Library where I will be teaching the subject matter of Arduinos to students (in middle and High School) in the West Babylon area. My goal through doing all this is to promote open education and give back to the programming community.

What’s a MOOC? A Massive Open Online Classroom (MOOC) is an environment where students can view videos & perform lab activities based on their own pace. The beautiful thing is that the courses are free most of the time. The only time you would need to pay is if you wanted a certificate in said course.

MongoDB University Classes

MongoDB University in case you aren’t familiar with it is a MOOC style environment which enables individuals to learn the NoSQL product MongoDB.

I have taken MongoDB for Security (M310), MongoDB for Developers with Python (M101P), MongoDB Basics (M001). I understand that a couple of these class have been deemed as “content no longer available” but I feel like it is fair for individuals to understand that these classes are still great and constantly improving! The instructors who teach MongoDB University classes are top of the line. The labs, the student body & the instructors allow for a great environment to foster learning. A technical background does help for the class but the instructor who teaches the Introduction class in MongoDB University is great the individual breaks down everything from the beginning which is exactly what students need (you know if you pick up a guitar you don’t just start playing stairway to heaven by led zeppelin you need to learn chords from the beginning). Typically a class you take after is MongoDB for Java, JavaScript, Python Developers (M220 J, JS, P). I personally enjoy python so I recommend the class. All though I haven’t taken M220P I took M101P which is a similar version to the class and I absolutely loved it and learned a thorough knowledge about MongoDB and how python interacts with a web framework & databases. The last class which I have taken is MongoDB Security or M310 this class is amazing especially if you are into security (hence the title of the class) but it is very advanced and requires a thorough knowledge of shell scripting (this can be easily remedied by checking out the MongoDB Documentation). All this being said I do highly recommend taking a class through MongoDB University I know that I’m going to be taking more classes offered through them.

Coursera Classes

Coursera is a Massive Open Online Classroom which fosters different topics for students to learn from different universities throughout the world.

Development of Real-Time Systems offered by EIT Digital

I took this class while in college to get more familiar with embedded systems/ Real Time Systems. This class is tough and definitely requires a student to have a knowledge of programming perhaps in a language like C/ C++ programming. This language covers the basics of FreeRTOS & Scheduling concerns. This courses establishes a very heavy Math & Embedded Systems background to get its point across. This class is really for someone who has a thorough knowledge in computing. I recommend this class to a student who has a very thorough background in C programming and has a pre-conceived knowledge in embedded systems.

Machine Learning by Andrew Ng The class of all classes Machine Learning from Andrew Ng (class bought to us by Stanford University). This class right here is the best way to break into the field of Machine Learning. Andrew Ng is a passionate Machine Learning teacher who is always excited about the subject matter which he is presenting. Andrew Ng presents the material from the building blocks he illustrates all the Machine Learning algorithms to you in a sense which allows you to understand it very well. Throughout the course you will use the Matlab programming language & interface with the Matlab grader. In the class you will learn what machine learning is, what supervised learning is and the different algorithms and that come with it and much more. I highly recommend this class to anyone who is a beginner in the Machine Learning community. The last note I would say is that this class really requires a love for math and learning new concepts everything else is explained well by the professor.

Getting Started with Google Kubernetes Engine by Google Cloud

This class designed by Google Cloud is a nice introduction to containers and allows you to learn the basics of Docker but mostly Kubernetes. This is a simple class associated with Qwiklabs. This class is great to break into the idea of what Kubernetes is and how this technology integrates with other platforms. This class goes through what clusters, nodes & many other Kubernetes ideas are. The final lab uses the continuous deployment/ continuous integration (CI/CD) software Jenkins and enables you to build a pipeline with Kubernetes. Effectively taking a real world scenario and putting your skills to good use. I recommend this class for anyone who has an interest in Kubernetes. This piece of software will eventually become very important in the software industry. I highly recommend the class.

edX Classes

edX is similar to coursera as it is a free Massive Open Online Learning classroom where individuals are able to learn different technologies & concepts through different universities.

Embedded Systems Shape the World Microcontroller

This class bought to us by UTAustinX on edX is a great class it goes through the basics of embedded system using the C programming language. This class also use the General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) of the tm4c123g-XL board and allows students to program different embedded system designs in order to see how hardware interfaces with software. In the course you will learn how to use switches, sensors, motors & LCDs to interface with the board. In addition some advanced techniques will be learned as well such as how to use Finite State Machines and develop embedded system designs, use logic analyzers & even develop a simple video game as a final project. I really enjoyed this class and will definitely teach you the basics of embedded systems. Honestly this class opened up my eyes and enabled me to find a interest in embedded systems/ Internet of Things (IoT). Think of this class as a way which enables humans to understand signals & sensors which are found in nature and formulate them into a digital signal which is how devices understand data.

Real-Time Bluetooth Networks- Shape the World

This class is a continuation of the class above it teaches you about the different concepts that are developed when devising a real-time operating system (RTOS). In the class we will go through advanced C programming concepts and show how to design a low Bluetooth module using the CC2650, tm4c123g-xl board & the MK-II booster pack which has sensors on the board. In this course you learn about the different scheduler techniques & the different blocking mechanisms which compose an operating system. An individual can think of this class as a way for how humans can understand the operating system which they use & are all around them.