1) The textbook talks about the relationships between user forms and reports and their underlying database structure. There are well-known structures used in forms and reports that translate into well-known patterns that appear regularly in an ERD (entity relationship diagram) database model. Describe one of these data modeling patterns, along with an example of when it would be used. Do not use the examples given in the textbook.

Have you seen any of these well-known patterns in forms or reports that you have encountered at work or on the Internet? Give an example and explain what it lets you infer about the underlying structure of the database behind it.

2) There are many kinds of entity relationships in a database model. The relationships can be classified by the following things.

Cardinality: maximum and minimum

Degree: binary, ternary, degree 4, and so forth

Entity type: strong, weak, ID-dependent, and supertype/subtype

What are these different types of classifications? Do they overlap, or do they each tell us something unique about the entity relationship? Why is it important to classify each of these types in an ERD (entity relationship diagram) model?

3) As we are learning, there are a lot of uses for cryptography in information technology, and there are a lot of different algorithms, cryptographic processes, key lengths, implementation methods, and so on. Let's explore the world of cryptographic products. What's available out there? What kind of quality is found in free, open-source products? What types of hardware devices? What types of software implementations? Please elaborate with thorough specifics.

4) Ever since World War II and the ensuing Cold War, cryptographic methods have been the source of much government angst. Protecting the information of one's own government and accessing the data of other governments has been a preoccupation of many nations.

With the growth of civilian computer networks in the 1980s and the development of Internet-based e-commerce in the 1990s, concerns about data security spread from governments to the public sector. The tension between the government's goal of control of cryptographic methods and business' need for internationally trustworthy security resulted in skirmishes between the two.

Let's discuss the modern history of cryptography in terms of commercial-governmental tensions. What can you find out about this? What are the considerations when determining how to standardize cryptographic methods? How are cryptographic methods regulated?

What are the different laws that govern the use of cryptography? Are they reasonable?

Whose interests are most important when determining the extent to which cryptography should be standardized, regulated, and mandated?

Do a little research and see what you can come up with in one or more of these areas.