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Last week I took my family and friends out to see the Engineering Open House (EOH) at the University of Illinois. The open house showcased the different aspects of engineering in a science fair format. The exhibits ranged from things interesting and cool for adults, to things fun and exciting for the kids. One exhibit, titled R.A.G.E. Beyond The Ether, located in the Computer Science section was the highlight of my day. Second place would have to go to a Distributed Music Library system which I might highlight in another article.

R.A.G.E. Beyond the Ether was, in my opinion, an overly pompous name. Cool for kids I guess. I believe the main point of the exhibit was to see how computer vulnerabilities were discovered, and what was at risk. Unfortunately I believe the college kids at this exhibit were misunderstood, as an older gentleman asking questions quickly labeled the students as Virus Writers. The students, and most certainly I, dismissed such an ignorant statement. The students, rather than writing and distributing virii primarily aimed at selling male enhancement pills, were actually working on a potentially important discovery in computer security.