Dmitry Zinoviev Aims at Social Aspects of Modern Computer Systems: Where the Technical Becomes the Social
Dmitry Zinoviev, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts, tackles the "Dark Side" of modern computer and network systems--their positive and negative impact on our society--in his new book "Data, Networks, Programs. Social & Technical Aspects."
Boston, MA (PRWEB) January 7, 2006 -- A year ago, Dmitry Zinoviev, a professor of Computer Science, Suffolk University (Boston) was assigned to teach yet another core computer course to undergraduate students--those who do not major in Computer Science. Dmitry was not a novice--he knew from experience that the majority of students in Humanities, Social Sciences, Arts, and other non-technical disciplines were hostile to computer programming. To attract students into his new class, he had to try something different--a new agenda, a new approach, and a new book.
"What is the biggest difference between the World as we knew it back in the 80's, and the World of the XXI century?" asked Dmitry Zinoviev. "Perhaps it's the fact that computer and network technologies are not just technologies anymore--they transform our own society, and on the top of the "traditional" social structures they build another stratum of virtual societies, those that exist only because computers exist."
Following his little discovery, in December 2005 Dmitry published his new book "Data, Networks, Programs. Social & Technical Aspects." The book is a systematic attempt to explain the emergence of social phenomena in computer and network systems in conjunction with the study of the enabling computer and network technologies.
"The idea of the innovative approach is to start low and finish high,"says Zinoviev. "Everything in computing begins with a number, whether it is the number of fingers on a hand, or the number of a letter in the alphabet, or the number of a color in a digital image. Numbers are the low end of the story, they are the least common denominator. From numbers, I proceed to data (such as text documents, digital images, and even multimedia) and to data communications (the Internet, the Web). Once we know how to exchange information, we are ready to accept the fact that this exchange immediately derives a social infrastructure. My students found this approach natural and easy to follow."
Does Professor Zinoviev teach his course just so that his students get another grade in their transcripts and pay another hefty sum to the college? Not at all. Besides teaching some knowledge about the technical organization of the computing and communication systems (which as good and at least as useful as some knowledge of Latin), the book also does not avoid such very practical issues as spam, identity theft, Internet privacy, viruses and other malware, and even software licensing. Do you want to buy this book if you are not one of Dmitry's students? No--if you don't want to feel safe and comfortable in the complex socio-technical world of the XXI century.
About author
Dmitry Zinoviev has over 16 years of Computer Science and Information Technology experience, including 5 years at Suffolk University, where he is an assistant professor of Computer Science. He graduated from Moscow State University (Lomonosov) and Stonybrook University (former SUNY at Stony Brook). This is his third book. The first two are about the Python language.
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