This is a written assignment. It is worth 15 lab points. If you are not sure your topic is related to Telecommunications, please check with me before you start. You might think of it as if you are summarizing some aspect of Telecommunications for your friends or co-workers. You would want to do it as clearly and concisely as possible. This is a chance for you to do that.

The Assignment:

Find two or more articles on some aspect of Telecommunications that interests you and write a short, 600 - 1000 word paper that summarizes:

• the key points of the articles,
• what you learned, and
• your reaction to them (agree, disagree, excited, scared)

You need to read two or more articles that total 5 pages or more (that is about 1500 words). It is okay to include very short pieces, as long as they are on the same topic. Articles can come from any source: world-wide web, newsgroups, magazines, newspapers. Be sure to include where you found the articles.

What to turn in:

• your paper
• a complete list of references (URLs, etc.) that point to the articles you used.
• a copy of at least two of the articles you used.

How to turn it in:

You can turn it in either in printed form, as an email attachment, or as a web page. All parts of the paper must be turned in together (ie, you cannot turn in the essay through e-mail and the articles in printed form).

• If submitting by paper, turn it in at the start of a class or to my office (Batmale 311). Do NOT put them in my CIS department mailbox.
• If submitting by e-mail, then use the Subject line: CIS 130 (Day or Evening) -- Summarizing Telecom articles and e-mail it to account: "c130labs"
• The preferred way is for you to make a web page that includes your essay and links to the articles you used. In this case, you need only to e-mail to "c130labs" the URL for your web page.

  If you want to use this approach and need help with creating the web pages, then let me know soon so we can help you. To start a home page on hills, you can run the following unix command:

  /pub/cis/cis130/mkweb   Your Name 

Some possible topics:

The future of some of Telecommunications; What will happen to BBS's, online services, the phone companies, or modems as we know them? How soon will fiber optic cable reach every home, if at all? What will be the impacts of the recently passed Telecommunications bill? How will telecommunications effect politics? our self-esteem and ways we interact with each other? What security issues face data networks and how can they be solved?