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From: Human-Nets-Request%rutgers@brl-bmd.UUCP (Human-Nets-Request@rutgers)
Newsgroups: fa.human-nets
Subject: HUMAN-NETS Digest   V7 #18
Message-ID: <799@brl-bmd.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 11-Feb-84 04:25:29 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-bmd.799
Posted: Sat Feb 11 04:25:29 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 14-Feb-84 01:07:27 EST
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HUMAN-NETS Digest        Friday, 10 Feb 1984       Volume 7 : Issue 18

Today's Topics:
                 Query - Programming Aptitude Tests,
          Computers and the Law - New Access Law (2 msgs) &
                 Database Entry Disclosure (3 msgs),
        Computers and People - Big Computer is Watching You &
               Hackers & Telecollaboration Simulation,
                 Computers and the Media - Hacker/ing,
                Information - CMU Interaction Program
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed,  8 Feb 84 19:26:38 CST
From: Stan Barber 
Subject: Testing Programming Aptitude or Compentence
To: AIlist@SRI-ai, telecom@mit-mc
Cc: stan@RICE, wert@RICE, va@RICE, fbag@RICE, rbbb@RICE, dave@RICE,
Cc: dbj@RICE,

I am interested in information on the following tests that have been
or are currently administered to determine Programming Aptitude or
Compentence.

1. Aptitude Assessment Battery:Programming (AABP) created by Jack M.
Wolfe and made available to employers only from Programming
Specialists, Inc.  Brooklyn NY.

2. Programmer Aptitude/Compentence Test System sold by Haverly
Systems, Inc. (Introduced in 1970)

3. Computer Programmer Aptitude Battery by SRA (Science Research
Associates), Inc. (Examined in by F.L. Schmidt et.al. in Journal of
Applied Psychology, Volume 65 [1980] p 643-661)

4. CLEP Exam on Computers and Data Processing. The College Board and
the Educational Testing Service.

5. Graudate Record Exam Advanced Test in Computer Science by the
Education Testing Service.

Please send the answers to the following questions if you have taken
or had experience with any of these tests:

1. How many scores and what titles did they used for the version of
the exam that you took?

2. Did you feel the test actually measured your ability to learn to
program or your current programming competence (that is, did you feel
it asked relevant questions)?

3. What are your general impressions about testing and more
specifically about testing special abilities or skills (like
programming, writing, etc.)

I will package up the results and send them to Human-nets.

My thanks.


               Stan Barber
               Department of Psychology
               Rice University
               Houston TX 77251

               sob@rice                        (arapnet,csnet)
               sob.rice@rand-relay             (broken arpa mailers)
               ...!{parsec,lbl-csam}!rice!sob  (uucp)
               (713) 660-9252                  (bulletin board)

------------------------------

Date: 3 Feb 1984 1939-PST
From: CAULKINS at USC-ECL.ARPA
Subject: California Computer Crime Bill
To: human-nets at RUTGERS

A new computer crime bill just introduced in Sacramento could shut
down all free, public access computer-based bulletin board systems
(BBS) in California.  The bill (AB2551) makes it a misdemeanor to
knowingly access a computer "without authorization" for any reason,
even with no malicious intent.  The reason for the misdemeanor is to
make it easier to prosecute "hackers" who break into computers but do
no damage.  Vandalism, theft of information, etc. are already felonies
under an existing California crime bill.

The problem free and open BBSs is that users cannot know if they are
committing a crime until they log on a BBS, and by then the crime has
occurred.  The BBSs have neither $ nor personnel to mail notices to
users; even if they did there is no list of user addresses for the
mailing.

The bill was introduced by Sam Farr (D, Carmel).  For more info
contact John James (author of the Communitree software used on many
BBSs), PO Box 1807 Los Gatos, CA 95031 (408))335-9250

The above appeared on the BBS I operate in Palo Alto, CA.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 4 Feb 84 13:33:19 PST
From: Matthew J. Weinstein 
Subject: More Laws?

[L A Times  2/3/84  p. 2]

``Computer  "hackers",  experts  who  electronically   infiltrate
private  computer  systems,  would  be  charged with misdemeanors
under legislation proposed in the state Assembly.   The  measure,
proposed by Assemblyman Sam Farr (D-Monterey) and backed by Atty.
Gen. John Van de Kamp, is aimed at youthful computer  enthusiasts
who  enter  computer  systems  without malicious intent.  Current
laws provide felony penalties for those who infiltrate malicious-
ly.   In  recent  months,  authorities  have investigated several
cases in which teenagers have gained entry into private computer
banks.''

------------------------------

Date: 6 February 1984 03:53 EST
From: Robert Elton Maas 
Subject: Laws about keeping info about people in databases
Cc: DEVON @ MIT-MC

    [MESSAGE FROM DEVON at MIT-MC  3:15am]
    ... I'd say that such laws generally only address information that
    you give out to other people, not info that you keep for yourself.
Good point, and a relief if correct. So it's perfectly legal to keep
my personal name&address list on a computer, providing I don't start
distributing it to outsiders (especially if I sell it to anybody with
the money!!) and providing I take reasonable measures to read-protect
it.

That would seem to answer the fears about somebody raiding his prsonal
computer just because he keeps his personal mailing list on it.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 9 Feb 84 08:38 EST
From: MJackson.Wbst@PARC-MAXC.ARPA
Subject: Re: Database notification and privacy
To: willis@Rand-Unix.ARPA
Cc: REM@MIT-MC.ARPA, MJackson.Wbst@PARC-MAXC.ARPA

In response to Willis Ware's comments on the cost-benefit aspects of
REM's proposal for mandatory, annual notification of individuals by
database maintainers:

Your points are interesting, but I'm not sure that they are
convincing.  Granted that a mailing of ~150 million is nontrivial,
it's not obvious to me how serious the incremental burden on the mail
system would be.  (The IRS forms mailing is indeed similar; how about
Publishers' Clearing House or Reader's Digest promotions?  Remember,
too, that we're talking about at most one or two additional pieces of
mail per household--how many do you get in a day already?)

        The basic point is sound though; one does not have a good
        mechanism for knowing where records about him exist or what
        they contain. It's a hit and miss proposition and even
        individuals who are well informed and adroit in tracking down
        things will occasionally be startled to uncover a new and
        unexpected collection of data.

Perhaps we have a basis for a clearly feasible proposal.  If in fact
the burden of annual individual notification is determined (how?) to
be excessive relative to the {benefit of | public demand for} such
service, how about the establishment of a central facility, to which
all individual databases are required to make themselves known, which
forwards requests by individuals to all such databases, to which they
must respond (directly, or through some sort of pooling) "yes, we have
you/no, we've never heard of you"?

Mark

------------------------------

Date: 10 February 1984 05:23 EST
From: Jerry E. Pournelle 
Subject: HUMAN-NETS Digest   V7 #16
To: TREITEL @ SUMEX-AIM
Cc: dehn @ MIT-MULTICS



people wioth eidetctic memories shall be lobotomized if they
learn anything about you...
        How's that agin?

------------------------------

Date: 10 Feb 1984 1150-EST
From: Wang Zeep 
Subject: A frightening Thought

The latest issue of "Infoworld" mentions that a think tank believes
that in a few years, all students will be required to have portables.
These (lap-sized, I guess) portables would have a "write-only memory"
recording all test scores and exams.  Only school officials would be
able to read the results in the WOM and would use these results to
determine competency and graduation.  They predict that this will
eventually replace SAT's and such; universities would recieve
transcripts of all this data and decide admissions on such a basis.
                        wz

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 3 Feb 84 16:52:51 PST
From: Matthew J. Weinstein 
To: ddern@bbn-unix
Subject: A Hacker by Any Other Name ...

Other locales have developed names for the same (sane?) type of
behavior.  When I was an undergrad, (real) hackers were often called
`munchers', and the verb was `to munch' (of course, we might have had
`munchkins', and you know what we did when we had `the munchies')...

                        - Matt


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