CSCI E-10: Assignment 1, due February 4, 2002

In more detail, students should accomplish the following as quickly as possible:

1. Arrange for a sufficient level of Internet Access, if you do not already have it. You will be actively using the internet as part of your coursework, and will need regular access. Most students prefer to have an account at home; some use an account at work with permission of their employer. A very small number of students have successfully handled all the course material using only the Harvard University labs (at the Science Center and/or Church Street) but if you choose to do this, be advised that you will really need to spend a lot of time at Harvard to make this work. Many of the assignments will require daily use of the Internet.

2. Register for your Harvard UNIX course account, following the instructions you received in the mail as a registered student, or the instructions given out in class. If you already have an account with Harvard University, you can skip this step. If you are registering for a new account, memorize your userid and password!

3. At the beginning of the week (no later than Wednesday!) send e-mail to the Instructor, albert@fas.harvard.edu. In that e-mail, please answer the following questions; you may also include any other information you'd like me to know.

   (a) What is your name, and what are your telephone numbers? Specify if the numbers you're providing are home and/or work numbers, and the best times to call.

   (b) Do you have a computer at home? If so, what kind of computer is it? Do you have internet access from home? If so, through what Internet Service Provider, and at what speed (specify your modem speed, or the type and speed of your cable, DSL, or other high-speed internet connection).

   (c) If you do not have Internet access from home, do you have Internet access at work or from some other source, and permission to use it for this course? Please give details.

   NOTE: If you do not have Internet access from home or from work, and are not planning to sign up for it, you will need to come to the Science Center or Church Street labs on a regular, frequent basis, to complete the homework assignments. I strongly recommend that every student have access from home or work. Nearly any paid ISP will do. You may have trouble accessing some of the course materials if you use a free ISP.

   (d) Have you ever done any of the following (don't worry if you haven't heard of them):

   • Joined a LISTSERV mailing list?
   • Read or posted to a Usenet Newsgroup?
   • Use a chat room, IRC channel, or Instant Message service (specify which ones)?
   • Created your own WWW page?
   • Connected to a MUD/MUSE/MOO?
   • Used a graphics-based Virtual Community?
   • Been a part of any other type of online community (specify which ones)?

4. At the end of the week,AFTER I send you an e-mail saying that the class mailing list is ready (which will probably not be before Friday), send e-mail to the class mailing list, libcse10@fas.harvard.edu, and include the following information to be read by everyone in the class:

   (a) A short introduction to yourself, including your name and a sentence or two about your current occupations or pursuits.

   (b) Two or three sentences about your interest in this class, what you are hoping to get from it, and any previous experience you may have had in this area.

Extension Activities and Thought Experiments:

1. As you begin to receive letters on the class mailing list, think about how you might sort the letters (and letter-writers) into categories based on writers' interests or backgrounds, or in any other way. With whom do you share interests or have backgrounds in common? Are there multiple ways of sorting these letters, and in which categories would you yourself belong?

2. What would it mean to form a community based entirely around sending and receiving e-mail? If you were to be part of such a community, how might your role be different from that you currently play in other communities of which you are a part? Would you be an organizer? A listener? Does it make sense to ascribe roles to members of this community that have analogies in "real world" communities, or are roles completely different in a virtual environment?