CSC 170
Homework 1

Assigned 5 Feb, due 24 Feb and 23 Mar

1. Do labs 1-C and 2-B from the textbook. Results due 24 Feb.
   To turn these in... first try using the link "Send your Student Tracking Data to your instructor". If that doesn't work, send me an e-mail and attach the file "A:\Tracking.tk2". If that doesn't work either, print out the report you see when you exit the lab and hand me the paper.
2. Find a topic for an essay of 3-10 pages, in the broad field of computers and their effect on Real Life. Some examples:
   • How are computers used in your chosen career?
   • How do computer viruses work, and what effects have they had in the past?
   • How does computer cryptography work? How does it affect e-commerce, law enforcement, and individual civil liberties?
   • What corporate and government databases have what information about you, how can they use and/or sell it, how can you get access to see it and correct errors, etc.?
   • How do e-mail, the Web, etc. change the ways human beings communicate? Consider specific kinds of people, e.g. the physically handicapped, men vs. women, Americans vs. people from other countries/cultures, etc.
   • How are computers and computer networks used to support racism, sexism, white-collar crime, terrorism, etc? How are computers used to fight these things?
   • Patents: when does it make sense to "patent" an idea? (For example, Amazon.com claims patents on the ideas of "shopping carts" and "one-click ordering".) Find examples of patents that have encouraged innovation, and other patents that have stifled it.
   • Plagiarism: how difficult is it for a student to find prewritten essays on topics like these? How difficult is it for a professor to spot them?
3. Research the topic. Find at least five distinct sources of information, at least one of which must not be on the Web (yes, that's right, you have to go into the library!) Your paper, of course, should not merely repeat this information, but should say something original about the topic, based on what you've read.
4. An outline, at least one sample paragraph, and an annotated bibliography are due on Feb. 24. (You may add more information sources after this, but you should have an adequate bibliography by this date.) By "annotated bibliography", I mean that for each source in the bibliography, I want a sentence or two assessing its reliability and biases.
5. A final draft is due on Mar. 23. Naturally, all quotations must be appropriately cited. You will be graded on spelling, punctuation, grammar, English style, factual content, coherent essay structure, and logical thinking.