CS 197 Computers in Society Professor John Peterson

Introductions An now, please tell us about you! * Background and interests * Experience with computers * Why you took this class * Expectations

Why I Teach CIS Computing has in impact on every field – everyone has something they need to know to work more effectively. People need to understand how computers work to make informed decisions Social and legal issues abound in computing – these aren’t just “geek” concerns.

The Educated Person What should an educated person know about computers and computing? We will try to answer this question in the next 15 weeks.

Textbooks The best information source for this class is the Internet: we will not need any other text Much of this class is about “Current Events” in computing: the latest technology, problems, court cases, and opinions. Another aspect of this class is making sure you know how to find things out in computing.

Rules of CS 197 * No dumb questions: if you don’t understand, speak up. You shouldn’t need any background in computers to handle this course. * No hype: be skeptical about claims involving computers and avoid a “wow – isn’t that cool” way of looking at the field * Participate: this class is a shared investigation of computing; all of us need to talk, investigate, and present information * Specialize: everyone should find some specific area to investigate in detail. Follow your interests!

Computers I've explicitly requested a classroom without computers! This is because I want you to do your computer work OUTSIDE of class. Here, I want attention focused on the presenter, not on your or catching up on the required reading.

Syllabus & Website Let's dive into the syllabus – there's a lot there. The we'll go to the class wiki and see what's there.

Unleashing Your Inner Geek * This is not a class for “computer geeks”! The skills you will need are mainly written and verbal. * You will have to translate from “geek language” into language we all can understand. Treat this course like a foreign language. * I will always attempt to tell you WHY an “Informed Individual” should want to know something. * We will do a little bit of programming but this isn’t a programming class …

Computers and “Magic” Magic is something we don’t understand. How can google manage to find the web page you want out of the billions out there? Magic? How does data move through the air? Magic? Our job is to find the “man behind the curtain” and see what’s really going on in computing. It’s not as hard to understand as you think.

Wiki Our class will be conducted “in” a wiki. What’s a wiki? A wiki is: * A shared place to present and edit information (web pages) * A way to organize information * Something that keeps track of “history” so nothing is forgotten * a form of computer-assisted collaboration

What is a Wiki? A wiki is a website where anyone can edit the pages in the website. Depending on the wiki, you may have to identify yourself (login). Ours will require this. Anyone with a web browser can access our wiki – don’t put anything there you wouldn’t want on your own web page.

Wikis The wikipedia is an encyclopedia that is published as a wiki. We’re using the same “wiki engine”. Our wiki is at The “unofficial text” of this class is the wikipedia: Let’s have a look …

Wiki Skills Demonstrate: * The home wiki and links * How to create an identity * How to edit a page * How to add a page * Basic wiki markup * Pictures

Homework #1 Let's look in the wiki

Background What is it that you find important or fascinating about computing? What impresses you?

Basic Questions What is a computer? What can computers do? Can we trust computers? What is information? What can we do with information? What is the Internet? What is IP (Intellectual Property)? How should society use computers? How can you use computers in your work? Are you aware of computing dangers?