Recently, the internet has been set ablaze after an iCloud hacker uploaded nude photos of over 100 celebrities on to the website 4chan, resulting in Apple and FBI investigations.

The emotions of people across the globe ranged from pure glee to utter outrage at the fact that this was both possible and happening.

Apple has since fixed the error that allowed for this breach of “the cloud” and many of the images have been proven fake or taken off the internet, but it is still possible to find them using a quick Google search.

This is not the first time this specific hacker has done something like this and has actually been hoarding this cache for several months. An artist is set to open an exhibit featuring all the stolen images to

“help find better ways to protect an individual’s information”.

Social media users have quickly been typing away blaming the celebrities, saying that if they didn’t take the photos in the first place they would have never been stolen.

The latter part is true…but…

There are many issues with this celebrity photo hacking incident. At it’s core, it is about celebrities being regarded not as people but as open targets for abuse.

They were victimized. Their privacy, their sexuality, and their lives were all violated…for what?!

There are two articles that we feel best explain what it really means when you open those images and why it’s wrong to do so. If there is anything good to have come out of this, it’s that so many people were outraged and have voiced their opinions.

 Is it 1962 or 2014?

That’s the question we at USDemocrazy are asking after recent events in Eastern Europe.

Although a freshly negotiated ceasefire could be good news for the situation in Ukraine, the gunpoint abduction of an agent of the Estonian government by the Russians Friday morning promises to set off new Cold-War-esque tensions between the US and Russia.

Estonia is an ex-Soviet state and home to many ethnic Russians. It is also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, meaning the US is bound by international treaty to defend it in the case of  a Russian invasion.

President Obama traveled to Estonia to remind the world of this fact less than 48 hours before the Russian abduction. There he assured Eastern Europe:

The defense of Tallinn and Riga and Vilnius is just as important as the defense of Berlin and Paris and London.

Sounds like this could get ugly.

Although this minor kerfuffle is unlikely to trigger a global war, the circumstances highlight the apparent willingness of our adversaries to gleefully skip over Mr. Obama’s self-proclaimed “red lines” (hint: think Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons in 2013).

Will Russia’s aggressive posture in Eastern Europe continue unchecked?

Is there any serious possibility of war between Russia and the US, over twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Here at UMBC, we take pride in what our alums accomplish after graduation. Take a moment to see which Retrievers have been on the move and making news!

As Baltimore’s Gamescape, an exhibit at Artscape, moved out of MICA and into the Single Carrot Theatre, Jonathon Moriarty ‘13, computer science and visual arts, prepared to present his game, CAVE, to judges and guests.

Gamescape promotes the rise of “indie developers,” or those who don’t work for big companies.

Moriarty, who first got involved with the exhibit as a member of the game developers club at UMBC, returned for his fifth year at the exhibit as a full-time game developer.

“The rise of indie developers… it’s something that’s happening really the world over and it’s the result of tool sets previously unavailable due to large amounts of money,” said Moriarty to the City Paper. Read more in Technical.ly and the City Paper.

Danielle LaClair ’08, social work, had no reason to worry when her tuition payment plan for Howard County Community College was cancelled.

Recently, the Pathway Scholarship Program, which grants “a county government-funded scholarship designed to make college affordable for county residents in need,” gave $2.5 million to 1,300 student–including LaClair. “It’s eased a lot of my worrying. These scholarships make going back to school that much easier,” said LaClair to The Baltimore Sun. Read more here.

On November 6, 2014, the UMBC Department of Visual Arts IMDA (imaging and digital arts) program will host Neja Tomšič of Slovenia along with Icelandic Fulbright Scholar Jaimes Mayhew ‘10, imaging and digital arts.

This Catalyst event, which will take place from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., is designed to work with IMDA graduate students in the ITE 110 Flex Lab. Read all of the information here.

Alexandra Shaw Macchi ’14, M.F.A., was recently published in City Paper under her pen name Lexie Mountain. Throughout her article, she addresses the passing of H. Res 676, which gives citizens the ability to sue the president, and the epidemic of imported snails used for moisturizers eating away at Floridian homes. Find her full article here.

Name: Emily Scheerer

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Major(s)/Minor(s): Computer Science

Expected Graduation Year: December 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

The APL summer intern program is very well organized, with tours organized for the interns. Each department within APL also holds its own tours and events. My day-to-day tasks involved working on two different project teams. My first project involved developing an assessment tool for cyber military exercises. My second involved writing a tool to detect executable content using machine learning techniques.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

As an alumna of the CWIT scholars program, I had an industry mentor during my junior year. She reviewed my resume and setup a mock interview which helped prepare me for my interview at APL. At the start of my senior year, I attended the career fair and gave my resume to Scott Almes, a UMBC alumni who was representing APL at the career fair. From there, I filled out an online application, then completed several phone interviews with various APL groups.

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?

Networking Events (Corporate Visibility Days, Info Sessions, Arts with A Purpose, etc.)

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I've had a number of summer internships, and one of the big differences between those internships and my experience at APL was being able to work on multiple projects. I was able to work on two different projects, which gave me a great, broad taste of the company and the work that takes place there.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

When interviewing, use the STAR method. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Have four or five stories that all meet the STAR method and address the common questions like how you respond to challenges or an example of your leadership. Being prepared for interview questions will make you feel more comfortable and confident. You can even take them in on notecards - you're expected to bring a folder with your resumes, and you can store your notes there.

- Congratulations on your accomplishments, Emily!