CIS 275 assignments

IP address, domain name and whois lookups

2012-02-29T19:41:00.001-08:00

The purpose of this assignment is to reinforce the idea of an IP address.

1. Use the nslookup command to find the IP address of www.mit.edu.
(You will have to figure out how to open up the command line window if you are not familiar with it).

2. Find the domain name of the host with the IP address 65.55.12.249.

3. Who is responsible for organization technology (OrgTechName) at www.mit.edu?

Turn in answers to these three questions along with a screen shot of the command line window showing the IP address of www.mit.edu.

Link to topic module

Profiles

2012-02-28T17:08:00.001-08:00

The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to Google Plus and Internet profiles.

You can find my profile by searching for +larry press on Google Plus. View my profile and answer the following questions:

Where did I go to college?
What is the topic of my most recent Google Plus post?
How many places have I lived?
How many videos have I posted?

Create a Google Plus account and profile of your own. Include as much information as you feel comfortable sharing, but be sure to upload a picture of yourself.

Print the answers to the above questions and a copy of your profile page to turn in.

Link to topic module

Internet surveillance -- what is your IP address?

2012-02-13T11:13:00.000-08:00

This assignment illustrates the idea of an IP address, but, more important, gives you practice discovering how to learn something you do not know.

Your assignment is to find the IP address of two computers and to say how you did it and how you learned to do it.

Your first reaction might be "that is not fair -- you did not show us how to do that," but the main point of the assignment is for you to discover how to learn using the Internet and other resources.

Be sure your computer is connected to the Internet and then find its IP address and answer these questions:

1. What are the IP address of two of the computers in labs on our campus?

2. Are they the same or different?

3. How did you find those IP address?

4. What is the IP address of the computer called www.csudh.edu?

5. How did you find those IP address?

6. How did you learn what to do to find the IP address -- did you get help from a friend? Do a Google search? Use the Windows help system?

If you already knew how to determine your IP address, just write that.

Link to topic module

Alternative introductions to Twitter

2012-02-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

This assignment will give you an alternative introduction to Twitter and also introduce you to a form of presentation called a "Prezi." Since it is to be done in teams, you also get practice with collaborative writing.

First, watch the following presentations:

A video introduction to Twitter
A “Prezi” of the above video

Then answer the following questions.

1. The presentations introduced Twitter and then showed how it could be used in a collaborative application. What was that application?

2. Which did you prefer the Prezi or the Video? Explain your answer.

3. You also saw this PowerPoint presentation. What is one point that it covers that is not covered in the video/Prezi?

This assignment is to be done in teams of two or three people. Print and turn in a single copy of your answers with everyone's name on it.

Link to topic module

Post a tweet with a hashtag

2012-02-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

This assignment will give you practice writing very short documents and will help us collaborate in discovering some cool resources on the Web.

Your assignment is to find something that would be useful and interesting to your fellow students. (Don't pick something everyone already knows about).

Spend some time picking something cool, then post a tweet that describes it. Be sure to include a link the reader can follow if he or she is interested.

Be sure to include the hashtag #275s12 in your tweet so we can share it.

Spend some time looking for a cool site to recommend -- the best one will get extra credit.

After you post your tweet, print it out to turn in.

Link to topic module

Tweet the best topic module so far

2012-02-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

Which of the topic modules we have covered so far has been the most interesting to you?

Let me know by sending me a tweet.

Your tweet should begin with @larrypress, then go on to say which topic module you like best and why you selected it.

Be sure to include a link to the topic module in your tweet.

After you post your tweet, print it out to turn in.

Link to topic module

Writing and sharing a document with Google Docs

2012-01-31T07:31:00.001-08:00

This assignment will introduce you to the Google Docs word processor and give you practice writing and sharing a short document.

Spend some time reading our class blog, and pick the most interesting post you can find. Write a short description of that post, stating its title, what it says and how it is relevant to our class. Be sure to include a link to the post in your description.

When you finish, set the sharing to allow it to be read by anyone on the Web.

Print it out to turn in along with its shared URL (Web address). Also print a copy of your Google Docs home page with a listing of this document and any others you may have created.

Link to topic module on Google Docs
Link to topic module on writing short documents

Program execution

2012-01-30T06:48:00.000-08:00

This assignment reviews the flow of information during the execution of a machine language program.

Answer questions 2, 4, 6 and 7 at the end of the PowerPoint on program execution. Be sure your answers are clearly written -- don't turn in the first draft. When you are satisfied with your writing, print the answers out to turn in.

Topic module

Network versus stand-alone applications

2012-01-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

This assignment reviews the distinction between network and stand-alone applications.

Answer questions 2, 4, 6 and 7 at the end of the PowerPoint on network versus stand-alone applications. Be sure your answers are clearly written -- don't turn in the first draft. When you are satisfied with your writing, print the answers out to turn in.

Topic module

Create a Yahoo Group to support a community of common interest

2012-01-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

This assignment gives you practice creating a Yahoo Group and reinforces the idea of an online community.

A Yahoo Group is a tool to support a community of common interest. The most important step in this assignment is thinking about the community you wish to support. Is it a few friends with a common interest, people taking a class, friends from the gym, you and your brothers and sisters, etc.? (The most successful groups will receive extra credit).

Think carefully about the group you plan to support, then write a short statement of who they are and what their common interest is. Print that out to turn in.

Next create a Yahoo Group for your community by following the three-step process at: http://groups.yahoo.com/start.

When you have completed the setup, you will receive a confirmation email. Print that out to turn in.

Link to topic module

Embedded computers

2012-01-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

This assignment is a review of your understanding of embedded computers.

Answer questions 1, 3, 6, 7 and 11 at the end of the PowerPoint presentation in the Embedded Computers topic module. Be sure your answers are clearly written -- don't turn in the first draft.

When you are satisfied with your writing, print the answers out to turn in.

Link to topic module

Place an image on the Web

2011-11-28T14:36:00.001-08:00

This assignment will test your ability to include images in Web pages.

Create a Web page with two copies of your picture, one with no border the other with a ten pixel border.

Upload the page to your Web site and check to be sure it is correct using a Web browser.

When it is exactly like mine -- including the title, text and heading -- print a screen shot showing your photo in the browser and a listing of the HTML file to turn in.

Your page should look like this, with your photo substituted for Lucas.

Link to topic module

Image encoding

2011-11-21T06:13:00.001-08:00

This assignment illustrates image encoding and file sizes.

Post answers to these questions on your blog and print them out to turn in.

An image is 800 by 500 pixels, and each pixel can be one of four colors. How much memory would it require?
An image is 800 by 500 pixels, and each pixel can be one of four colors. How much storage space would it require?
How many different colors could one represent using two, three and four bit codes?
When you add one bit to a code, what happens to the number of possible colors?

Link to topic module

Play with Google Plus

2011-11-19T12:05:00.001-08:00

This assignment will introduce you to Google Plus

Open a Google Plus account and create a profile with your picture.

Set up a CSUDH275 circle and add me (+larry press) and some of your classmates to it.

When you have done this, print and turn in a copy of your circles page.

Add a link to your Google Plus profile to our class roster.

Print and turn in a copy of the roster showing the link to your profile.

You can get the URL of your profile by searching on + in the Google Plus search box. (There is no space between the plus and your name, and be sure to use the Google Plus search box, not the Web browser search box).

The link to your profile should display your Google Plus ID, not the URL. See my example in the roster.

Post a short description of one of our class blog posts on Google Plus. Be sure to include the URL.

Link to topic module

Encoding numbers

2011-11-19T11:09:00.001-08:00

This assignment illustrates the encoding of numeric information.

Post the answers to the following questions on your blog and print a copy of the blog post to turn in.

If I am counting in binary, what is 11111 plus 1?
If I am counting in binary, what is 11111 plus 11?
How can you check your answer to question 2?
Write the decimal number 12 in binary.
Write the binary number 1101011 in decimal.
True or false – all odd binary numbers end in 1? Explain your answer.

Link to topic module

Create a wiki

2011-11-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

This assignment will test your ability to create a wiki when needed.

We will use the wiki service at Wikispaces.com.

Create a wiki with a home page with links to three sub pages.

1. A page with a description of the best class you have had at CSUDH -- one that you would recommend to your friends. Be sure to include the name and number of the class, the instructor's name and a brief statement as to why you recommend it so highly.

2. A page with a description of the most interesting post you have seen on our class blog -- one that you think others should read. Give a short summary of what the post says and why you are recommending it. Be sure to include a link to the post (its permalink).

3. A page devoted to any topic you choose -- something you care about.

Print your pages to turn in and also add a link to your wiki to our class roster.

Link to topic module

Encoding text

2011-10-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

This assignment illustrates the encoding of text information.

Post the answers to the following questions on your blog and print a copy of the blog post to turn in.

1. If you took a picture of your car, could you store that using the ISO 8859-1 character standard? Explain your answer.

2. Write the word Hello using the ISO 8859-1 character standard.

a. How many bits did it take?
b. How many bytes did it take?
c. Would it take more bytes in memory than in storage?

3. At 10 bits per second, how long would it take to transmit Hello from one computer to another?

4. Which contains more information 100 random bits or 1,000 random bits? Explain your answer.

Link to topic module

Install Paint.Net

2011-10-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

Paint.Net is an open source image editor that was developed at the University of Washington.

It is great for the things that I do -- enhancing photos and creating images for presentations and articles.

Your assignment is to download and install Paint.Net on the computer you use for homework assignments.

You will find it at: http://download.cnet.com/Paint-NET/3000-2192_4-10338146.html.

Paint.Net requires that you have MicroSoft's Dot Net software installed on your computer. It will have been installed at the factory in almost all cases, but, if you do not have it, the installer will show you how to get it.

You do not have permission to install software in the campus labs, so, if you want to use Paint,Net there, you have to download and install a portable version on a flash drive. You can find that here: http://www.liberkey.com/.

Have you installed software on your computer before? It is easy, but you might want to get help from someone the first time you try it.

When you have it installed, open any image you have and play around with it for a while. Don't worry if it seems confusing -- I will demonstrate it in class and we have several topic modules on image processing.

When you are finished playing, print a screen shot of Paint.Net with your image loaded to turn in.

Link to topic module

Build a test application

2011-10-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

This assignment illustrates the ease of developing applications using Internet services.

Find an Internet service for building applications like blogs, wikis, databases, surveys, etc. Build a test application, keeping track of the time you spend on the project. How much time did you spend learning the basics, building and debugging the application?

Print a screen shot of your application and write a short summary of what it does and your effort -- your activities and the time you spent on the project.

Link to topic module

IP packets and addresses

2011-10-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

This assignment will test your understanding of the way information is transported across the Internet in packets.

Print and turn in your answers to questions 1-3 at the end of this presentation.

Link to topic module.

Bits, bytes and data types

2011-10-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

This assignment will help you assess and sharpen your understanding of data types and the way they are encoded.

Print out your answers to questions 3-7 at the end of this presentation.

Link to topic module

Developing a database application on the Internet

2011-10-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

This assignment illustrates the power and simplicity of building an application using an Internet service.

I created two simple roster applications. I programmed one by hand and built the second using Zoho Creator, an Internet database service.

Add your name and email address to the hand-programmed roster:
http://sws.csudh.edu/lpress/rosterfixed/roster_view.asp

If you have not already done so, add your name and email address to Zoho Creator roster:
https://creator.zoho.com/lpress/copy-of-cis275-roster1/#View:CIS275_with_blog

Print both roster listings with your name on them.

Play around with both applications until you see how they work. For example, delete and re-add your record from both rosters. Sort the Zoho Creator roster. Filter out some records from it.

1. Both are class roster applications, but they are not identical. What are two differences between the two applications?

2. Which roster application is most useful and flexible? (Explain your answer).

Turn in your answers to these questions along with the printouts showing your entry in both rosters.

Link to topic module

Application characteristics

2011-10-03T00:25:00.000-07:00

This assignment tests your understanding of some key characteristics of an application.

1. How many application characteristics did we discuss and what were they?

2. What are the characteristics of email and chat?

Link to topic module

Popular Web client and server software

2011-10-02T23:56:00.000-07:00

This assignment will familiarize you with current Web client and server programs and their market shares.

Answer either the even or the odd numbered self-study questions at the end of the PowerPoint presentation on popular Web client and server programs.

Link to topic module.

Plan a survey

2011-09-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

You will be creating a survey on a topic that interests you.

Do not worry about the mechanics of creating the survey for this assignment, focus on planning and design.

You should take some time to come up with a topic. Do not pick the first idea that pops into your mind. (It is human nature to settle on the solution to a problem too soon and then cling to that solution -- fight that urge).

Try to generate at least three ideas and think them over before settling on a topic. Who will be taking your survey? Do the results have any practical value? Are you genuinely curious about the topic?

Once you have a good topic, draft your questions. (Review the question types that are spelled out in our Survey Design topic module and be sure to include both open ended and limited response questions).

Set you questions aside for a day, then review them. The wording will have to be adjusted. Are the questions ambiguous? Have someone else take the survey and give you feedback on the way they interpreted the questions.

Type and turn in your plan outlining the survey topic, the target audience, your plan for reaching them. Also include the questions in your plan.

Link to topic module