IFSC 4399/5399 Computing, Information and the Future

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IFSC 4399/5399 ST: Computing, Information, and the Future

Fall 2009
Days: MW
Time: 1:40 p.m. - 2:55 p.m.
Place: ETAS 354

SYLLABUS

Why?

• Information, understanding it and using is key to the future
• The computing field is undergoing rapid change
• Biotech, nanotech, energy tech, and our society and culture are changing fast as well
• The future is ahead, we're part of it, and is to our benefit to understand it ("knowledge is power")
• Are you planning to live and work in the information age?
• Be aware of what the future may hold
• Learn how to extrapolate from the past and present into the future
• Those things are not only useful but interesting too!

Textbooks:

• None. The Web is loaded with useful information but there is no once-size-fits-all textbook for this course. Readings not on the Web will be distributed in class as needed.

Instructor availability:

• After class, by appointment, at 569-3488, and by email. Email is often best and fastest. Sometimes you can just stop by.

Students with disabilities:

• It is our policy and practice to create inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate assessment of achievement--such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned videos--please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are also welcome to contact the Disability Resource Center, 569-3143 (v/tty). For more information, visit the DRC website at http://www.ualr.edu/disability/.

A few resources about the future (most contributed by students in the class):

• http://news.science360.gov/
• http://futurity.org/
• http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/
• Jakob Nielsen's site, has some predictions about the Web
• Ray Kurzweil's site: evangelizing of the singularity
• International Telecommunications Union has various reports on future trends in telecommunications
• The world is aging. From http://www.economist.com/
• Institute for the future (iftf.org)
• Technology as Extension of Human Function Architectures(http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/technology_as_extension.html)
• Risks and benefits of nanotech: http://www.def-logic.com/articles/nanomachines.html
• SPIME (listen)
• Transhumanism (H+ Magazine)
• Powering devices wirelessly (http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_giler_demos_wireless_electricity.html)
• Georgia Tech's "Future Computing Environments group http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/fce/index.html
• ted.com has tons of lectures relevant to the future, many of them well done
• How long should we live? http://www.bepress.com/selt/vol1/iss1/
• The following entries in this list are outdated and will be replaced with timely links...
• P. J. Denning and R. M. Metcalfe, eds., Beyond Calculation: the Next Fifty Years of Computing, Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 1997.
• Georgia Tech's "Future Computing Environments group http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/fce/index.html
• http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/238940/computer_trends_of_the_future.html?cat=15
• Wired magazine has a set of articles on the "future of money." http://www.wired.com/collections/future_of_money/
• A paper on the future of disk storage: E. Grochowski and R. F. Hoyt, Future trends in hard disk drives, IEEE Trans. Magnetics, May 1996, pp. 1850-1854. See also http://www.storage.ibm.com/storage/technolo/grochows/grocho01.htm
• Virtual reality and the future. Fubini's law. (Local mirror.)
• Transhumanism (Local mirror of logo and FAQ.) Here is some more about transhumanism.
• Jupiter Communications (you pay for what you get, but do you get what you pay for?). Ditto for Forward Concepts. (Local mirror of one of Jupiter's pages.)
• FBI page on threat of future electronic attacks on the U.S. (Local mirror here, provided in case of electronic attack.)
• Institute for the Future ...the web site has tons of stuff. Associated with Paul Saffo. (Local mirror of home page.) paper.
• John McCann on "Cybertrends" (Here is a local mirror of the page.)
• ... and on the "Digital Dawn"
• .. and on "Technology CyberTrends"
• About Interval Research Corp., a (computation oriented) company dealing with the future.
• http://www.engr.uark.edu/~djb/Courses/Future/Future.html
• World Future Society Lots of links and stuff
• World Future Society, Boston Chapter Lots more links and stuff
• List of links to people with interesting ideas about the future.
• More links
• http://www.tcom.bsu.edu/tcom200/discuss.htm has interesting ideas for how to generate discussion questions.
• http://gsbkip.uchicago.edu/htmls/savage/seminars.html is about a course for business forecasting.
• Peter Cochrane's home page (British Telecomm) has a bunch of neat stuff, see Beyond Calculation references (chap 1?) for URL.
• Lesk's home page (Bellcore) has a bunch of neat stuff, including lots of interesting graphs you can find by hunting around.
• Farber's home page (upenn.edu?) is moderately interesting, but not nearly as interesting as Lesk's and Cochrane's.
• Feb. 1997 CACM has lots of short articles on the future of computing and is a lot better than the book "Beyond Calculation"
• http://www.rbarry.com seems to have possibilities but I haven't investigated it enough to say any more.
• http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcc-conf covered "Trends and Issues in Online Instruction"
• Is the future of universities "dim"? http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/~virtual/hypermail/0113.html
• A magazine, http://biz.swcp.com/xines/science/707.html !--
• "Larry's World" has an occasional short term future-oriented mass appeal article -->
• Lots of stuff available by doing we searches on the keyword "futurist"

A few resources about learning about the future
(from Jay Gary, School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Regent University, 7/09)

• "foresight educators who maintain online networks and resources that you might check out":
• Dr. Stephen Steele http://www.aacc.edu/future WFS Learning section, summits, resources
• Dr. Jennifer Gidley http://www.wfsf.org/ Scholars & activists: membership
• Dr. Peter Bishop http://wwww.foresighteducation.wetpaint.com/ Curriculum sharing among educators
• John Smart http://www.futuresphd.wetpaint.com/ Lists, taxonomies and discussions. http://foresightdevelopment.wetpaint.com/, http://accelerating.org/presentations/Selling&TeachingFD(115).ppt. According to John Jackson (7/09), "John's approach is that foresight is a life skill. He convinced UAT that Foresight should be a core requirement for all UAT students. His class is wildly popular[...] Part of his success comes from networking: the class requires students to work with institutions such as career counseling and the alumni association that the university cares about. In addition to developing foresight skills, the class serves to network the students more deeply into the university and its various services."
• Dr. Richard Slaughter http://www.foresightinternational.com.au/ Books and CD-Roms for educators

Grading:

1. HWs will involve readings, written comments, and searching the Web.
2. HWs will also involve options: software development if you are so inclined, or analyses and literature searches if you are inclined that way, or creative writing products of various kinds. Why not paintings or skits if you are interested in art or theater? The class would like to hear your music if you'd like to do that!
3. Students will each present one 30-minute session to the class on a future-relevant topic, and write a paper (or program, or other product in addition to your talk). Preliminary versions may be due earlier in time to get feedback from the instructor, and you will be asked to develop this project gradually throughout the semester and hand in parts of it. I am a fan of developing larger projects one step at a time!
4. Class sessions will require preparation and HW. Aim for an average of 6 hours of work outside class each week for an average 3-credit course (3 credits means 3 50-minute classes or 2 75-minute classes per week), and study guides often recommend 2 hours of preparation per week for each credit. Please let me know if the work load differs significantly from this plan so I can adjust as needed. I don't want to overwork - or underwork - students in this class.
6. Typical assignments will be worth 100 points.
7. The presentation will be 200 pts. and the paper, program, or other product will also be 200 pts. grade. The annotated bibliography will be developed gradually throughout the semester.
8. If you must be absent from a class or cannot hand something in on time due to illness or some other reason, please contact me as soon as possible.
9. Because this course has students of potentially many different levels and backgrounds, effort will be a significant factor in grading. This course is open to all. Welcome!

Assignment of final grade in the course:

90% - 100% -- "A." Everyone can one if they work at it!
89.5% - 89.99% -- "A" or "B," depending on class attendance or excuses & instructor's judgment
80% - 89.49% -- "B"
79.5% - 79.99% -- "B" or "C," depending on class attendance or excuses & instructor's judgment
70% - 79.49% -- "C"
69.5% - 69.99% -- "C" or "D," depending on class attendance or excuses & instructor's judgment
60% - 69.49% -- "D"
59.5% - 59.99% -- "D" or "F," depending on class attendance or excuses & instructor's judgment
50% - 59.49% -- "F"

The minimum grade on any quiz or assignment is 50% (e.g. not handed in), but all grades will be counted.

Standard lateness policy: 10 % off the grade on any assignment handed in up to 1 week late. 20 % off assignments that are very late.