Michael Plouffe

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Category: Academia

More on privacy and security

Posted on 22 April 20204 May 2022 by Michael Plouffe

As a companion to my brief overview, this post focuses on browser and networking considerations. Hardening Your Browser Because everyone uses a browser, these pieces of software can present a significant security risk if they’re not kept updated. However, tracking of your browsing activities, as Google Chrome does, presents a threat to privacy (and potentially…

Some reflections on online teaching

Posted on 14 April 202015 April 2020 by Michael Plouffe

At the end of our second term, all teaching was shifted to online delivery because of concerns relating to the novel coronavirus and the related illness. For me, this meant I had to deal with two new preps, one on a completely new topic, all in the course of a couple of weeks. This was…

A brief introduction to computing security

Posted on 4 November 20194 May 2022 by Michael Plouffe

I’ve been interested in computing and cybersecurity since I was fairly young.(1) I’ve noticed that this is a fairly uncommon, so I’ve listed here a few simple steps toward a more secure (and private) computing existence (these are also important considerations for mobile devices, like tablets and phones). Additional points can be found here. Software…

Two new publications

Posted on 10 October 2019 by Michael Plouffe

I’ve got two short peer-reviewed pieces out today, neither of which really constitutes research, but are more commentary on a couple of issues related to research. The first is a blogpost as part of Nature Human Behaviour’s ‘Is it publish or perish?’ series. My contribution focuses on political science/international relations and the UK academic job…

Preparing a UK PhD Application

Posted on 2 October 201916 January 2020 by Michael Plouffe

Applying for a PhD in the UK? The process of applying for a PhD in British academia requires a lot of research and legwork by the applicant. The first step involves identifying top research departments, as these can often differ from the usual list of ‘top universities’. At the postgraduate level, the UK doesn’t seem…

Belt and Road Redux

Posted on 5 September 20196 October 2019 by Michael Plouffe

Approaching belts and roads through better research design I’ve written previously about my concerns relating to the quality of BRI-related MSc dissertations.(1) To summarize,  these projects tend to suffer from significant problems. These tend to stem from at least one of the following: Inability or unwillingness to separate hype/propaganda from actual policy and activities Poor…

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