Tuesday, August 31, 2004

I want to complete my BA in Legal studies by the end of next summer. So this is the main goal in choosing courses. I need to take two legal studies courses this term to do that. One course is a full year course.

In this full year course, LAWS4908 I will be writing an honours essay with Neil Sargent supervising me. We have agree on a paper that questions the definition of computer crime. So that course counts as one course for both fall and winter terms.

The other legal studies course might be one looking at drugs, drug users and the state, LAWS4306B and Dawn Moore is the professor. I have read Howard Becker's the Outsiders yesterday and today because this book is one of the weeks readings for LAWS4306B. I have downloaded other weeks' readings and have browsed some of the other readings in the library. This course is a critical look at drug laws.

But instead of this law course I might try a course in international criminal law issues, LAWS4903C. I haven't decided which of these last two I will study. The international criminal law would be good to know for computer crime studies but the drug law course would also be useful as this is the most common criminal law issue I face in Canadian society. Also the laws concerning marijuana might be changed very soon so this would be a good course to follow these changes closely.

Ok that's two courses and usually what I study in terms of course load. It is also officially a full time load for a disabled student. I will need two law courses in winter one being the last half of LAWS4908, the paper and the other maybe medical issues in criminal law, like the insanity defence for instance.

But this summer I was enjoying helping teach statistics and last school year I enjoyed the people in our math department where I worked as a teachers assistant. I also borrowed and read and am reading a number of math books successfully. So I wanted to add a third course in math or statistics to my study load.

My dad and brother have now agreed that I should be supported to try a heavier course load. My argument is that I am doing great in school including a top of the class mark this summer so I should be allowed to see if I can recover fully to a full time job or study load. If I find it too much I can go back to a lower course load in January. I am very pleased with their support. But because of this I will not apply to be a teaching assistant in two departments this term. I will only try to be a TA in the math department ot the law department at the same time.

Sunday, August 29, 2004

Yesterday, I completed reading the first chapter of the three computer
crime books I boorrowed. These are the cites for the three books.


Sieber, Ulrich. Ed. Information Technology Crime: National Legislation,
Jus Informationis European Series on Information Law
v 6 (Köln: Carl
Heymanns Verlag, 1994).



Sofaer, Abraham D. & Goodman, Seymour E. Ed. The Transnational Dimension
of Cyber Crime and Terrorism
(Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution, 2001).



Davis, Robert W.K. & Hutchinson, Scott C. Computer Crime in Canada: An
Introduction to Technological Crime and Related Legal Issues
(Toronto,
ON: Carswell, 1997).

Saturday, August 28, 2004

I read the first chapter of three computer crime books I borrowed.

Friday, August 27, 2004

I am studying computer crime this morning. I worked on my paper on computer crime on my Linux computer using Open Office. I read from three books early this morning. I am at the same space I was last year in school. I am attempting to use a Linux system for the whole term. This time I am trying to use a Linux desktop for the whole year.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

I decided on going through with studying the honours paper course, after the supervisor I found, professor Neil Sargent, agreed to a paper on computer crime. He teaches our corporate crime course in fourth year and often teaches the second year Introduction to Private Law course and recently has been teaching parts of the first year Introduction to Legal Studies. He has given me something to go on now. He likes my idea of looking at the definition of computer crime. This topic I gathered from an article in Wall, David S. Ed. Crime and the Internet (New York, Routledge, 2001). The article is Levi, Michael. "Between the risk and the reality falls the shadow": Evidence and urban legends in computer fraud ( with apologies to T.S. Eliot).

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

This following program written in C++ is for exercise #4 in chapter 3 of Ross's Simulation 2d. By the way I looked up how to write into this blog, the less than and greater than signs in the program where the include statement is. These weren't showing up as the blog thought they were an html tag.
//
// A C++ program for integrating a continuous random variable (1-x^2)^(3/2) between 0-1 and finding its expected value or mean.//

#include <iostream>
int Kvalue;
float Svalue;
int Seed;
float x;
int countK;
float Expected;



int main()

{


std::cout << "Enter integer for random seed: ";
std::cin >> Seed;
void srand(unsigned int Seed);


std::cout << "Enter integer for length of Simulation: ";
std::cin >> Kvalue;
countK=0;
Svalue = 0;
while (Kvalue >= countK)
{

x= (float) ( rand() / (RAND_MAX + 1 ) );
Svalue= Svalue + pow((1-x*x),(3/2));


countK++;
}


Expected= Svalue/Kvalue;
std::cout << "Expected Value = ";
std::cout << Expected;
std::cout << "Svalue = ";
std::cout << Svalue;
std::cout << "Kvalue = ";
std::cout << Kvalue;
return 0;

}


Monday, August 23, 2004

Hugh Petrie made this graphic art on the web.http://hughphoto.tripod.com/MonarchFace/ScreenApplet.html
Peter Moore gave me some books last night. These are those books:
Gandhi, M. K. Non-Violent Resistance (New York: Schocken, 1951).
This book I loaned him. I bought it used somewhere or someone gave it to me. I saw the Gandhi movie in the 1980's and read Fisher's biography of Gandhi. Jenny has also read a biography of Gandhi.
Timmerman, Jacob. Prisoner With out a Name, Cell Without a Number Talbot, Toby. Trans. (New York: Vintage, 1981).
This book I picked up in my active membership in Amnesty International days in the early 1990's. I loaned this book to Peter a couple of years ago.
Pearsall, Thomas E., Cunningham, Donald H. & Tovey, Alan S. How to Write for the World of Work (Toronto, ON: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1988).
Peter is a journalist. This book seems to be one of his trade books. I have not read it or seen it before.
The other books are computer books. Some he is returning. Some are books I have never seen before and some look out of date.

Sunday, August 22, 2004

I started working through the simulation exercises in chapter 3 of Ross's Simulation. Here is the C++ program for simulating the random variable exp(exp(x)) between 0-1.

//
// A C++ program For integrating a continous random variable exp(exp(X)) between 0-1 and finding its expected value or mean.//
#include
int Kvalue;
float Svalue;
int Seed;
float U;
int countK;
float Expected;



int main()
{


std::cout << "Enter integer for random seed: ";
std::cin >> Seed;
void srand(unsigned int Seed);


std::cout << "Enter integer for length of Simulation: ";
std::cin >> Kvalue;
countK=0;
Svalue = 0;
while (Kvalue >= countK)
{

U= (float) ( rand() / (RAND_MAX + 1 ) );
Svalue= Svalue + exp(exp(U));


countK++;
}


Expected= Svalue/Kvalue;
std::cout << "Expected Value = ";
std::cout << Expected;
std::cout << "Svalue = ";
std::cout << Svalue;
std::cout << "Kvalue = ";
std::cout << Kvalue;
return 0;
}


I have been studying for the past 9 years mostly in night school or using televised lectures. My basic scheduling goal has been made around not taking morning classes. I try not to take morning classes. But school is on a 9-5 clock generally althought the school's hours are more like 8-22. So the school is generally open 14 hours in the regular term. I have studied on this 14-10 clock for about 9 years now and worked in this clock for money for about 1 year now. I applied to do this job again this fall term. I am also considering increasing my study load this term by one course to three courses total per term. This is about 9 hours of lectures and would mean about 27-36 hours out of class study per week. My family generally do not approve of a heavier study load than two courses and the only time I have tried the three course load was in 1987 and I failed all three courses. But I am generally doing very well with school right now so this maybe possible to up the study load. At the moment my dad has paid for two courses so either he will also pay for the third, or I will be able to get a bursary for paying for the third. The other possibility which might be good but is unrealistic is for me to pay myself. The more likely possibility is that I only study two courses given that school is time consuming and a major stressor in my life.

I am still not completely sure of what subjects I will study this term. I have spaces in both legal studies and in statistics courses, but will drop some of these courses later this coming week. I have been reading books to prepare for both set of courses. In fact, I am reading a medical handbook on the alcohol and drug abuse to prepare for one law course that concerns law and drug abuse and the government. Our country might be decriminalising marijuana use this year or next. The senate have reccommended marijuana use be made no longer a crime. The bill makers in the commons have been considering this for about a year now and certain election promises were made concerning this.

For statistics I have been reviewing probability and random variables. I have also made my first C++ program. This program functions to simulate a random variable.

I might if I take the three statistics courses, be studying numerical analysis which is in this courses' professor's approach solving differential equations using MATHLAB software. I am aware that we will cover Newton's method. We will also cover error which should be both a review for me and an extention into the post-modern world of error. I have met with the professor of this course in July.

I will in another course be studying queueing theory and markov chains and have been teaching myself these in August. I have been reading an older edition of the course textbook these past three weeks. The professor for this course is the director of the school.

The third course concerns multivariant analysis and is taught by a senior professor who helped me study for my three year statistics degree. I would hope to have her as a graduate supervisor too. Her field is applied statistics where my critical view of statistics helps me to figure things out. She also teaches datamining and I might take her datamining course next term.

Actually if I also study three statistics courses next Winter term, I believe they are all on Monday's so would only have one day of school a week. It would be a very busy day but less than 12 hours. It would also include two 2 hour breaks.

This term some of the courses are early morning but using my sleep planning I seem to have gotten a schedule for my week that would work quite well for attendance and extra study but every day of the week would have about 1 hour on campus or more. This would generally mean I would only work at my main part time job on weekends. But weekends was one of the shifts that I was originally hired to work.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

My bike got a flat. I took the bus yesterday. I got vitamins and got the graded assignments into the professor. I stayed up about seven extra hours and then slept until about midnight. I am working a night shift on Sunday night. Right now I am helping with the newspaper delivery.
I reviewed some of Morris, Mary E. S. & Massie Paul. Cyber Careers (Mountain View, CA: Sun Microsystems, 1998). I reviewed the developing one's self chapter. I did some inch pebbles for this past week in my private journal.
The summer work as a TA is over now.

Friday, August 20, 2004

I completed marking the remaining questions for the assignment #3. I also emailed the professor the marks. I am just leaving to school now on my bike to drop off the assignments all marked. I will also take a ride to a 24 hour pharmacy to pick up vitamins. I am thinking of increasing my study load to 1.5 credits per term. I have an appointment to see an advisor on Tuesday next week at 3 PM. Then we have a Teaching Assistant union BBQ at 5 PM that day.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

I completed marking question 3. This question was a confidence limit with sigma known using the Z table. Also a sample size question concerned getting a 99% confidence level.
I completed marking question number 2 for all the student's assignments. This question was about confidence intervals when sigma or the standard deviation is not known thus the t table is used to calculate the confidence intervals. I learned this in my undergarduate statistics degree.

I read a little of the qualitiative research method's chapter in the book Bachman, Ronet & Schutt, Russel K. The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2d (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2003). I thought of the book on qualitiative research into recovery from schizophrenia I read in the spring. I also thought of a gang study I read in the year 1993. I read that book in 1993 in one day and it was 300 pages long. I just stayed up late to finish it back then. That book concluded that gangs were modeled or modelable on American business with graffiti as advertising and I don't seem to remember much else from the model. The author of the study was a scholar in Chicago and the study was a participant observation study. I also thought of a covert researcher/labour organizer study I read a couple of years ago. I also thought of David Hakken and his participant studies in computer use by organizations. I reflected on all these as my building knowledge in sociology and anthropology and its field work techniques.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

I read chapter 1 in Hermanns, Holger. Interactive Markov Chains: And the Quest for Quantified Quality (Berlin: Springer, 2002). This statistics book describes a method for modeling the performance of complex systems in particular this could apply to computer systems.

I was able to download a copy of Windows XP professional with SP1 because the mathematics and statistics department has an agreement with the MSDN Academic Alliance. I needed this because the WinXP laptop I have did not come with a WinXP CD. I can now maybe try to make this laptop dual boot. The WinXP CD will be for a system recovery if the installation fails.

I have been marking the final assignment for STAT3502. I have marked the first question for all the students now.

I took some time off my city committee volunteering today and am feeling much more relaxed. I actually had some union volunteering to do this afternoon. I checked on school books in the school book store. The books for my courses are not in the bookstore yet. I looked at new books in the library. I came home and chatted at Yahoo. I am just going out to buy my wife ice cream but maybe I'll try to talk her out of eating ice cream. I have a Mac, a WinXP laptop and a Linux computer all running right now.

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

This program inspired from chapter 3 of Ross, Sheldon. Simulation 2d (San Diego: Academic, 1997) will calculate the average value of X^2 between x=1-10 for a discrete version of x squared.

//
// A C++ program For Integrating a random variable (X^2) and finding its expected value or mean.//
#include
int Kvalue;
int Svalue;
int Seed;
int U;
int countK;
float Expected;



int main()
{


std::cout << "Enter integer for random seed: ";
std::cin >> Seed;
void srand(unsigned int Seed);
std::cout << "Enter integer for length of Integral: ";
std::cin >> Kvalue;
countK=0;
Svalue = 0;
while (Kvalue >= countK)

{

U= 1 + (int) ( 10.0 * rand() / (RAND_MAX + 1.0) );
Svalue= Svalue + U * U;


countK++;
}

Expected= Svalue/Kvalue;
std::cout << "Expected Value = ";
std::cout << Expected;
std::cout << "Svalue = ";
std::cout << Svalue;
std::cout << "Kvalue = ";
std::cout << Kvalue;
return 0;
}


Sunday, August 15, 2004

I read chapter 1 and 2 yesterday and chapter 3 today of this book: Ross, Sheldon. Simulation 2d (San Diego: Academic, 1997). I started to make the programs to simulate random variables using Quincy, a C++ IDE using gcc. So I spent about an hour today trying to write C++ code.
I finished chapter 1 of Roulstone, Alan. Enabling Technology: Disabled People, Work and New Technology (Buckingham: Open University, 1998), this morning. I read chapter 2 this evening.
We need to sell my wife's book at an up coming community picnic. My wife's book is Saint Saens, Jennifer. Jenny's Sky (Ottawa, ON: Sky Rock, 2004). We need to order some more books from the printer before September 11th, the date of the picnic.

Friday, August 13, 2004

I am starting to read two computer books afresh. These two new books I am adding to my knowledge are:
Hutter, Dieter. et al, Eds. Security in Pervasive Computing: First International Conference, Boppard, Germany, March 2003. Revised Papers (Berlin: Springer, 2004).
The first few papers are only one page long or so.
Brock, Gerald, W. The Secondary Information Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2003)
This is a book from the Network Engineering section of the library. It is a book in English. Like Mueller, M. L. Ruling the Root, Internet Governance and the Taming of Cyberspace (Cambridge, MA: The Mit Press, 2002) it is a history of technology.
One other book I am reading on technology and disability is: Roulstone, Alan. Enabling Technology: Disabled People, Work and New Technology (Buckingham: Open University, 1998).

Thursday, August 12, 2004

I am working a night shift Thursday night. I completed my tutoring work for the summer today. I completed my tutorial hours for the summer in STAT3502. I said goodbye to the students and let them know they were a challenging group to TA. They are all engineering students.

I chose law courses for the fall and winter terms. I am letting the statistics course go now. I still have some books out on statistics from the school library. These books are:

Janacek, Garth. Practical Time Series (London: Arnold, 2001).
This is the first math book in awhile that I am able to read. Also I do not have to read this book for work or any current studies or courses. I have borrowed it for about a month now or more. I got through two chapters and this book allowed me to discover R and also in the end discover xemacs for for the WinXP laptop I have. It covers smoothing as well as time series stuff. I got the next book out on smoothing after reading this first book a little.
Bowman, Adrian W. & Azzalini, Adelchi. Applied Smoothing Techniques for Data Analysis: The Kernal Approach with S-Plus Illustrations (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997).
I have only really gotten half way through the first chapter of this book
Ross, Sheldon. Introduction to Probability Models 6d (San Diego: Academic, 1997)
I scanned this book's first four chapters which introduce probability. I read and understood the introduction of markov chains.
Ross, Sheldon. Simulation 2d (San Diego: Academic, 1997)
I haven't even opened this book beyong making this citation note.
Alexander, Kenneth S. & Watkins, Joseph C. Eds. Spatial Stochastic Processes: A Festschrift in Honor of Ted Harris on his Seventieth Birthday. (Boston: Birkhäuser, 1991).
I have not read this book really either
Hermanns, Holger. Interactive Markov Chains: And the Quest for Quantified Quality (Berlin: Springer, 2002).
This book as well has been opened to a minimum.

Monday, August 09, 2004

I got down to deciding on statistics courses these past two days. I told a number of people today about this decision and they all seemed to listen but one of them approved of this choice. This person is in fact a school counselor. Also a professor in the legal studies department, said he likes my balanced approach which I mentioned as my reason to the couselor as well today. In fact, no one has disagree expect my father who approves of the legal studies courses. Most people I talk with don't care because that is not thier job. But one fellow, a former classmate did active listening to what I was saying. He is applying for law school in New Zealand.

So these statistics courses were today's choice. Even if by the end of the day I was reading crime analysis and wanting to continue with the legal studies because the statistics courses needed to upgrade my B.Math would take a good two years of study. After today when I was tired it seemed that statistics would be more difficult to do well with, but it was statistics as my choice for most of the day. After writing this I am keen on the statistics again too. In fact, I browsed books I will need for these courses at amazon.ca. I then borrowed this book for one course. Ross, Sheldon. Introduction to Probability Models 6d (San Diego, Academic, 1997). I scan read the first four chapters which cover probability and basically the same materials as parts of STAT3502 and STAT3508. But I read the introduction to stochastic processes and also Markov chains.

I worked for 4 hours today at school. Tomorrow the plan is to work for another 4 hours and then 4 hours on Wednesday. I earned 20$ today tutoring a student in PSYC2002 and the F test statistic. I also earned 34$ giving a tutorial session for a few students in STAT3502. Tomorrow I am tutoring the same student again in PSYC2002 and then again on Wednesday and that's it for him this term. Also tomorrow I am tutoring another student in MATH1007 for two hours. Then I tutor him again for one hour on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday I will give one more hour of tutorial. I will also begin 6 to 8 hours of marking assignments for STAT3502 earning about 17 dollars per hour doing this. This will be my last duties in being a TA in STAT3502. Work school, school work.
I just completed reading a simple book with a lot of information thoughtfully presented in crime analysis. I spoke with the Ottawa Police recruiter last year and they have about 12 crime analysts with the Ottawa Police. The book is Vann, Irvin B. & Garson, G David. Crime Mapping: New Tools of Law Enforcement (New york: Peter Lang, 2003). This study continues my learning about GIS from GEOG2007 with little more info about ESRI products. Continuing my GIS education with this book helped me integrate my knowldge of traditional maps and mapping with post-modern GIS mapping in regards crime mapping. It probably also makes me a better city volunteer and victims assistance volunteer. I now know some issues of privacy concerning location of crime victims. This book also extends my studies in GIS and terrorism that I started in summer 2004 with LAWS4701.

Sunday, August 08, 2004

I am having trouble deciding courses. First about math and statistics courses I will write. I have ruled out one course in numercial analysis as it is early morning. Only one course stochastic processes and queueing theory remains a possibility with early morning requirements. In this second course the tutorial is set for Monday mornings at 9 am. I am fairly certain I don't want the first course. I did talk to the professor and he would be good and friendly and helpful but the early morning schedule preculdes studying it this year. That basically leaves only two statistics courses to choose from in mathematics and statistics for the fall term. There is really only one philosophy course on social and political philosophy. There are five possible law courses and I can only take two at most.

Saturday, August 07, 2004

"Read widely" Mike Fox, geography professor at Carleton University on how to study geography and use a library.

I am reading in criminal law, geography, statistics, alcohol studies, telecommunications history, computer security, perl, and crime mapping. I am sort of settling down to studying law and drug abuse this fall term. I will also start to write a fourth year honours paper. This paper I hope is on disablities and the law or computer crime. One of those two topics. This morning my plan for fall 2005 is to start to study for a Ph.D in sociology specializing in statistics, disability studies and criminology.

I am reading these geography books right now:
Duckham, Matt, Goodchild, Michael F. & Worboys Michael F. Eds. Foundations of Geographic Information Science (London: Taylor & Francis, 2003).
I just started this book and have not gotten far with it. I read the basic attempts at defining geographic information sciences.
Rushton, K.R. Groundwater Hydrology: Conceptual and Computational Models (Chichester, West Sussex, England: Wiley, 2003).
With this book I have just read the introductory chapter and then followed the author's suggestions for novices to scan the book. It is very complex math and uses case studies. The math though is not beyond me and it uses only math I can understand with my B.Math degree as far as I can see by the diagrams and cross sections.
That's it for geography books I am reading right now.

Friday, August 06, 2004

Some people I know write user doucmentation as such this might be useful for them in their work. It is a link written by Avi Solomon in a comment from Kevin Kelly's web site on his Help Wanted Blog.

How To Write Usable User Documentation by Edmond H. Weiss
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0897746392/
I started reading Cross, David. Data Munging with PERL (Greenwich, CT: Manning, 2001), yesterday. It too is a book with humour and attempts at being cultural.
I am starting to prepare for the criminal law issues course that covers Drugs, Users and the State. I am reading Brick, John. Ed. Handbook of the Medical Consequences of Alcohol and and Drug Abuse (New York: The Haworth Press, 2004). I read the first chapter this evening.

Thursday, August 05, 2004

The book I just read, after studying terrorism laws in LAWS4701 the criminal justice and social policy summer school, was Archick, Kristin & Gallis, Paul. Europe and Counterterrorism (New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2003).
I have spent 12 hours now in training for victims services. I have 28 hours left to go then an exam and then I am certifed. I won't write too much about this work here as I have signed a confidentiality agreement.

I worked only one hour today, tutoring. Tomorrow I might work three hours tutoring. On Saturday I work 4:30 hours then 7:30 hours Sunday morning. This is the Saturday night shift. I am then working the night shift again on next Thursday and will have to miss three hours of training that night. I will also help with the newspapers on Saturday morning and maybe Friday morning.

I need to prepare for Monday's final tutorial and get ready to mark the classes final assignment. I hope to have this marked by Thursday or Friday next week.

I finished a book on European Counter Terrorism. This extends from my spring course in terrorism laws. I am being so smart these days. I have some good work. I can study one on one with a professor this year. My old private law professor from last summer has agreed to supervise me in writing an honours fourth year paper this year. I got permission to study stochastic proccesses and queuing theory as well today.

Monday, August 02, 2004

I have twenty books out from the university library. I completed reading this book early yesterday morning: Goggin, Gerald & Newell, Christopher, Digital Disability: The Social Construction of Disability in the New Media (Lanham, ML.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003). I learned a lot from this book but the main message is that academics ignore disability studies which is what our law department is doing in my case.

I am again officially in fouth year law now. Again this is not an LLB but rather a BA in law. Next could be a an MA in law. I am picking a course in sentencing and a course in drugs, users and the state for the fall term.

Today's newspaper and it is a holiday today had a front page article about blawgs or blogs about law. They estimate there are only 12 blawgs in Canada but about 500 in the USA. I have used one US blawg, that is Lawrence lessig's blog about Internet law.