My Last Post

When first entering this community partnership for the Boys and Girls Club in the Tenderloin I already had an idea of how it was going to be working with them as I had volunteered for them previously at the Ernest Ingold location by Haight Street. Volunteering at this new location with a different, more technological motivation was a different dynamic. Working in the Tenderloin did sadden me a bit, as walking through this underprivileged area it’s distressing to realize that children have to grow up in a neighborhood, where on some streets crack-heads outnumber regular pedestrians and people are doing drugs openly on the street. It was disturbing to see that part of the B&G club (the section where we were volunteering) was located across from a gentleman’s club. After volunteering, I still have the same opinions about myself and my abilities; I enjoy volunteering and working with kids - I am going to continue my volunteering, but I’ll probably return to the Ernest and Ingold location because their schedule is a bit more flexible. I have learned through this experience that you don’t have to be interactive with the kids in order to help them (as we helped predominately by setting up software on the computers), but it is still my favorite part.

Ethics

When it comes to software where security is critical or the software plays a role of significance (life/death situations), then the software should be thoroughly tested as not doing so could lead to terrible repercussions. For instance, if computerized accounting system were to have bugs, people’s finances could be at risk; balances emptied out or information leaked. The money people use to pay the bills and buy groceries – gone.
What about situations where software does not play a life or death position, where no one will starve because there are a few bugs. Is it better to hold the release date until the software is debugged or is it better to release the software sooner and distribute patches later on? Many companies have chosen to go with the latter solution, but this could put the company’s reputation at risk. Just because several companies have chosen to this route, does not make it right. In most other industries a faulty product is unacceptable, why should software be any different? Companies should refrain from releasing buggy software and test their software properly and thoroughly, as it could harm future sales.