INFORMATION

• This assignment will be given in two parts.
  • Part I is listed below (given in lab on Thursday Feb 28th).
  • Part II will be given in the lab on Thursday Mar 6th.
• This assignment covers the material that is available online. Please be sure to read a little bit about every web-site before answering the questions.

• Part II of this assignment is worth 5 points, or 5% of your term grade.

1. For Part II of this Assignment, you will create one textfile in TextEdit (or Notepad on the PC) with the answers to your questions.
2. Type your name in the files and your email address as comments.
   1. Look here to learn about what comments are (just read the first few paragraphs!).
   2. And here as to how to write comments in HTML.
      
3. Save your work!!!
   BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE LAB, make sure that you save your work (both HTML files and any images files you use) by storing them on a USB flash drive or by mailing them to yourself.
4. When you are completely finished with all the steps, zip all your files together and email the zip file to me as an attachment. To do this:
5. Put everything that you want to turn in, into a folder
   1. Mac OS X: Right-click on the folder and choose "Create Archive"
   2. Win PC: WinZip program and adding the homework files to the zip archive when it is created.
   3. Send me the .zip file as an attachment. Do not send me the files individually!
   4. Some links as to how to create .zip files:
      1. Create a .Zip file on a PC using Win XP
      2. Create a .Zip file on a PC using WinZip
      3. Create a .Zip file in Mac OS X
6. My email address is: faludi@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu.

BE SURE TO ASK IN THE LAB IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANY STEPS!!!!

PART II.

Step 1.

Open TextEdit (or Notepad on a PC), write the answers to the following questions in a PLAIN TEXT FILE. Once you are done put this file in the .zip that you will send me with the HTML pages you did for Part I also enclosed.

1. Evaluating Search Results (1 point)

   Look at the sites below, and evaluate whether or not you should believe the information presented. Some of these sites are reliable, but some are not. Explain your reasoning for believing the information or for being skeptical.

   1. George Washington: A National Treasure: Washington's Life
   2. Martin Luther King Jr. - A True Historical Examination
   3. Secondhand Smoke: The Big Lie
   4. Walk Away a Winner
   5. cure for cancer
   6. Save the Northwest Tree Octopus
      
      
2. Plagarism (1 point)
   1. What is plagiarism? Look here for a definition (Don't just cut and paste the answer! - Why not?!)
   2. How can a professor detect plagiarism?
   3. What happens if a professor accuses a student at Brooklyn College of plagiarism?
      See the Brooklyn College procedures regarding academic integrity
      
      
3. Common Knowledge and Public Domain (1 point)
   
   For the next questions, look up the definitions of "copyright", "common knowledge", "public domain" and "fair use". You can find these terms explained in this site from Stanford University.
   1. If a fact is considered "common knowledge" does a source have to be cited?
   2. For each of the following, explain whether or not it is considered "common knowledge".
      1. There are fifty states in the US.
      2. Vegetables are a good source of vitamins.
      3. Eating blueberries can reduce memory loss.
      4. Left-handedness is more common in males than in females.
   3. If some information is in the "public domain" does the source have to be cited?
      
      
4. Project Gutenberg (1 point)
   1. What is Project Gutenberg?
   2. What does 'free ebook' mean?
   3. What are you allowed to do with the books you download?
   4. Name one book that is available with Project Gutenberg.
      
      
5. Creative Commons (1 point)
   1. What is the Creative Commons? (You may want to read this comic: How does it work?)
   2. What kinds of liscences exist in the Creative Commons? (Another comic)
   3. Find a work in the Creative Commons. What is the title and who is the author of the work? What kind of liscense is it distributed under?

Step 2. Off-line questions.

On Monday, we talked in class about algorithms. We discussed three different types of algorithms: sequential, parallel, and binary. We solved the problem of finding the oldest person in the classroom by using either a sequential algorithm or a parallel algorithm. And we solved the problem of finding Al Pacino in the phone book using either a sequential search algorithm or a binary search algorithm. We compared the different approaches (e.g., how long it takes an algorithm to run in the worst case, how much the computer has to remember while an algorithm is running, etc.).

Here are two new problems:

1. Find any two people in the class who live on the same street.
2. Find how many people in the class live on the same street.

Create a text file in Textedit (or Notepad) and write your answers to the questions below in that file.
Include that file in the ZIP package of HTML and style files you're submitting for this assignment.

• Question 1 (2 points)
  Which type of algorithm would you choose to solve problem A? Why? Describe how you could use each of the three types of algorithms and defend your choice by explaining why you feel the one you've chosen is better than the others.
  Hint: there is no "right" choice! Any of them can be used to solve the problem, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses. Your task is to explain the strengths and weaknesses and provide your opinion about why you would choose one over another.

• Question 2 (1 point)
  Now think about problem B. How is it different from problem A? Explain how your chosen algorithm would be modified in order to solve problem B instead of problem A.