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Seminar in Computer Systems in Public Administration, summer 2004 PAD 6714, Seminar in Computer Systems in Public AdministrationSequence Number 12970, Wednesdays 6:00 p. m.
- 9:10 p. m., Florida Atlantic University Askew Tower 815 You will be confronted with a succession of topics which will challenge you to grapple with modern information technology, to make sense of what at first may seem incomprehensible. (Don't expect too much help from me. Now that I've selected the materials, my job is to hold your feet to the fire.) You will have to download the required readings and whatever other materials and resources help you to understand the required materials. Then you will come to class and pool your understanding with the other students'. Since the curriculum will evolve as we go along, the ambiguity alone may be unnerving. But if you come to class on time and remain until the end, show up prepared to answer questions, take part in discussion, and turn in written materials that I will now and then request, I won't let disaster strike you down. How to reach me.
Building an Online Community and Advocating for Your Cause.In From Exclusion to Inclusion (http://www.progressivetech.org/Resources/Research/PTP%20From%20Exclusion%20to%20Inclusion.pdf) "Resources for Community Organizers" (http://www.progressivetech.org/Resources//index.htm) Further, read the fifteen items on databases, plus http://www.progressivetech.org/Resources//PDF/Environmental%20Health%20Coalition.pdf and http://www.progressivetech.org/Resources//PDF/Californians%20for%20Justice.pdf Online Fundraising Handbook (http://www.groundspring.org/learningcenter/handbook.cfm) Hypercommunication.Read "Telecommunications in Miami-Dade" (http://www.agmarketing.ifas.ufl.edu/dlfiles/AppC_HyperComm.pdf) If you feel brave, dip into Hypercommunication.net (http://www.hypercommunication.net/), especially chapter three. But only if you feel brave. Human Limitations.Flip through "Frontiers of Space Access/Utilization/Exploration Technologies" (http://www.icase.edu/workshops/hress01/presentations/bushnell.pdf) or "Future Strategic Issues/Future Warfare [circa 2025]" (http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2001testing/bushnell.pdf) or both, and identify the limitations of human beings relative to cyber systems. "Futures Studies, Future Conflict Studies" (http://WWW.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awc-futr.htm) might help you or confuse you. Intelligent Agents.Both "Is There an Intelligent Agent in Your Future?" (http://nature.com/nature/webmatters/agents/agents.html) and The BotSpot (http://www.botspot.com/) will give you an orientation to bots. DataFerrett: For TheDataWeb (http://dataferrett.census.gov/TheDataWeb/index.html) and User's Guide (http://www.thedataweb.org/support/user/index.html) will present a very clever use of bots in statistics. Be prepared to relate it to your graduate school experience. Added 2004-05018 05:10. DataFerrett is a very complicated bot that guides you through a gigantic collection of databases. For easier to understand bots that deal with huge databases, go to Vivismo's demonstrations (http://vivisimo.com/demo/Overview.html). Examine Information Systems.http://www.users.bigpond.com/ivan.webb/quality/schools/actionplan.htm sets forth the action plan of Better Schools Australia. Study this page and some of its links. Now skim or scan Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/h2r2/), and tell me if you think the system described therein meets the criteria for Better Schools Australia. Resources"A-Z Index" (http://www.aaai.org/AITopics/html/a2z.html) Yahoo on computers (http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/) MSN on computers (http://search.msn.com/pass/results.aspx?ps=ba%3d0%26co%3d15.20%26&q=computers&FORM=EQRA) About on (http://about.com/compute/) Google on computers (http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/) Search Engine Watch (http://searchenginewatch.com/) with Web searching tips (http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/index.php) The Wikipedia online encyclopedia. Do you really want to be in this class?Most of what you will learn in here is not written down anywhere, at least not in a well organized way. You will have to show up on time every time, having studied in advance the material below, and pay attention; and you well have to ask questions, then go out and study the additional materials that I direct you to. You can't be passive. By the way, if you are late or skip class or let your attention wander, you are sure to miss something important. And that's your tough luck. I do not try very hard to be well organized. I launch into stream of consciousness lectures, and you get the point if you pay attention and ask questions, or you don't. If you don't, that too is your tough luck. Bad things happen to people who do not follow my advice. There are deadlines for turning in projects, and if you miss a deadline, there is no way to be sure what I will do with your late submission. Probably I will accept it, but possibly I will also misplace it. (I'll try not to lose it; but I won't try very hard.) There are formats and instructions to follow, and if you fail to comply with directions, there is no way to be sure your paper will be recognized ands credited to you. (I'll try to credit your work to you, but I won't try very hard.) On email and Web updates.Several times a week you will please have to check this Web page for additions and clarifications. Go the bottom and check for added notations. I add to the end of this page to avoid using email.To send me email, please use mendelljay@gmail.com. If you are a belt-and-suspenders guy/gal, send a second copy to mendelljay@yahoo.com In the subject line type "I am a student in PAD computer systems." And when you send me email, be sure to include your name, not just your email address. It is helpful if you include your phone numbers at home and work and your cell phone number. Free materials. Grading. Attendance and promptness count, too, since (1) I like to give a brief quiz about two minutes after the scheduled start of class; and (2) if you are not around when I return graded HW, it goes into the trash, and you or a friend will have to do a dumpster dive to retrieve it;. and (3) if you do not turn in your HW when I ask for it, I may very well misplace it. On occasion you may be late or you may be unprepared, but you can't be both and escape my wrath. Lame excuses.If you come up to me and say, "I have got to skip class next week to [insert your lame excuse here]," and I reply, "Okay," this does not mean I have excused you. It just means I have decided fume quietly. So, if you think that I have promised you an excused absence, get it in writing or it doesn’t count. (I have never given a written excuse, by the way, but I've only been a professor for 31 years.) Arriving late and leaving early.Arriving late and leaving early are especially infuriating variants of being absent. They will surely be tracked in the attendance log. See "unannounced quizzes" below. Unannounced quizzes.I will administer an open book, open notes quiz whenever I feel like it. (And I get the feeling often.) Favorite times are at the start of class, after the break, and just before I send you home. Your grade for a missed quiz will, of course, be a zero. Turning in HW on time.If I don't like your HW, but you have brought it in on the day it was due, I'll have you do it over for a higher grade. But if it is late, you will be stuck with whatever grade I give you. A pattern of repeated lateness makes me unsympathetic and even more cranky than usual. Posted 2004-05-14 at 9:45 a. m. Posted 2004-05-16 at 6:30 p. m. Explore the alumni affairs site for FAU Alumni (http://www.faualumni.org/). Do it make you want to join the FAU National Alumni Association? Does it make you want to re-visit the site? What improvements would you make? Write 500-600 well chosen words in a memo to pbreman@fau.edu. Print a copy for the professor. Posted 2004-05-20 at 5:53 a. m. Here is a link to the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) and to its piece on neutral point of view in writing (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view&printable=yes).Also their article on the Wiki community (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_Portal). Posted 2004-05-22 at 5:35 a. m. Here is a HW due in class on 2004-06-02. No, deferred until 2004-06-09. Visit http://www.hep-c-alert.org/home.html . Explore it critically. Skim or scan the Online Fundraising Handbook (http://www.groundspring.org/learningcenter/handbook.cfm) Write a constructive memo of at least 1000 words on how you would improve it. Be sure to cite the handbook and give its Web address. Send your memo to Ms. Andi Thomas .(This address will be removed from this page in a week.) Print a copy for the professor. Posted 2004-05-26 at 2:45 p. m. Sorry to tell you this on such short notice, but I am canceling class for this evening. Next week, you can bring the HW that was due tonight.
This HW is due on 2004-06-16. Let's see if you are an autodidact. Go to the section above on "Resources," and browse for explanations of the following terms. At least one of the explanations should have something that at least indirectly or peripherally relates to public administration (highlight it). You don't have to write an essay: just print the web pages that contain the info that helps you to understand the concept.: "Genetic algorithm" Be prepared to explain your answers if called on in class
(it could happen). Posted 2004-06-14 at 8:45 a. m. Go to the FAU library's full text files of Futurist, and find an article that illuminates an issue facing FAU in the near term (0-3 years, say). Print the article and compose a half page memo directed to Dean Carter or President Brogan. (Don't feel obliged to send the article and memo. The memo does not have to be about computers and communication. Posted 2004-06-16 What I want you to please do for 2004-06-23 is to bring me a list of all the tasks that you used a computer for between the end of class on Wednesday 2004-06-16 and the evening of Tuesday 2004-06-22. A handwritten list is okay, though I do suggest you keep a copy for yourself. Posted 2004-06-18 First -- Dear anonymous, if you do not put your name on your HW, I cannot give you credit. Yes, it's true, my psychic powers are flagging. But do not pity me. Do arrive on time for class to identify your work and claim credit -- "on time" because at 6:02 p. m., as the syllabus says, your work will be shredded. Second, this is for all the rest of you. if you emailed me a HW, be sure to check if it made the trip from my computer to my printer to my desk to my briefcase to the pile of HW to be graded to my grade sheet. Third, the deal is that I accept HW late, but late HW does not qualify for re-grading if I don't like your first attempt. Most of the HW I have looked at so far on "domotics," "open source," and "genetic algorithm" fell short of being passing work and will have to be redone by those who delivered it on time. So if you plan to deliver this assignment late, be sure to read the assignment carefully and respond completely. Outdo yourself, because you do not qualify for a second chance. Posted 2004-06-21 Posted 2005-06-22 "As FAU increasingly uses e-mail to correspond with its students, it Posted 2004-06-25 at 12:30 p. m. There is no HW due on Wed June 30, 2004, [added 2004-06-29] though you must turn in the Futurist HW posted above on 2004-06-14, if you have not done so. The HW for Wed July 7, 2004, will be posted here on Thu July 1 or Fri July 2, 2004. It will require no research or reading, will take one hour exactly, and may be submitted handwritten on Wed July 7, 2004. So if you are planning to be away for the long weekend, you can do the HW during your lunch hours on Mon, Tu, or Wed.
Posted 2004-07-01 at 5:21 a. m. Here is the HW for Wed July 7, 2004. It should take no more than one hour and may be submitted handwritten. (Don't forget to write your name on every sheet.) You have seen the ten sets of questions in futuristic questions. Now, consider the radio in your automobile, and answer each set of questions for that auto radio. Allow exactly five minutes for each set of questions. Write down whatever occurs to you in the five minutes, then move on to the next question. (Take the questions in any order, but enter them on the HW sheets in the order you dwell on them. As you proceed, take note of whether you find each answer easy or hard to think up. You may be asked to make a brief oral presentation of your thought processes as well as you can articulate them. By the way, we are going to move on to a discussion of intelligent agents (bots). I suggest you skim "Is There an Intelligent Agent in Your Future?" (http://nature.com/nature/webmatters/agents/agents.html) and then go to the BotSpot (http://www.botspot.com/) and experiment with the various chatterbots. You may be asked to present your favorite chatterbot to the class.
Posted 2004-07-6 at 8:25 Here is an exercise
we will do in class, commencing at 6:00 p. m. The county manager has informed the council that a certain
amount of money will be available for a pilot project in
computing/telecommunicating. The council, in turn, has appointed a committee of
twenty citizens to select the particular technology in which to invest. You and three others
have been appointed as the staff committee to nominate technologies for the
committee to choose among. You happen to know that members of the committee are
of several schools of thought. Group one favors a
highly visible technology, something spectacular that will excite the public.
Group two favors something that promises to solve an important problem
afflicting one department of county government. Group three favors a technology
that will produce productivity pervasive throughout the county government. Group
four favors a technology that will probe the very leading edge. The four of you in
the group must preview as many as possible of the links below and nominate four
technologies for final decision by the committee -- one technology that will
satisfy each group. Be prepared to make
an oral presentation to the class. http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=f5d922d97e345aa1
http://psychology.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.anark.com%2F http://psychology.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.calsci.com%2F http://www.artificial-life.com/ http://psychology.about.com/od/companies/ http://psychology.about.com/od/companies/ http://www-ai.ijs.si/eliza/eliza.html http://vhost.oddcast.com/vhost_minisite/index.php?email=1&affId=15630 http://www.mathwright.com/book_pgs/book681.html http://www.zabaware.com/assistant/index.html http://www.zabaware.com/webhal/index.html http://www.writersstore.com/product.php?products_id=47 Or select from this
list: http://www.shoppingagents.net/shoppingagents.html Posted 2004-07-06 at 8:25 Here is a HW due on 2004-07-14 Study the list of
four programs, the recommendations that your committee made to the committee of
twenty citizens. How would you rate each of them on Hendler’s criteria (http://www.nature.com/nature/webmatters/agents/agents.html)
(communicative, capable, autonomous, adaptive)? Posted on 2004-07-06 at 8:25 a. m. Please note that on
2004-07-14 the class will be moved to HEC room 608 for a special event.
Take particular care to show up and show up on time. Posted on 2004-07-11 at 7:15 p. m. Ray Kelly appealed to me to find the link to the Hendler article, so here is http://www.nature.com/nature/webmatters/agents/agents.html You could have found it rather easily by using Google. You can stop reading when you come to "One realm being explored is the so-called mixed-initiative approach." Posted on 2004-07-12 at 6:25 a. m. If you are baffled by the DataFerrett listed above, you are not alone. I have spend many hours struggling to understand it and use it. So you may see where DataFerrett is heading, let me introduce the "Invisible Web." Here is a link on specialized search engines (http://www.leidenuniv.nl/ub/biv/specials.htm) Here is a tutorial on the Invisble Web (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/InvisibleWeb.html) , and here is another tutorial with some bult-in search capability () And here are locators for the IW.
Posted on 2004-07-12 at 7:15 a. m. Here is a HW due on 21 July 2004. Consider the town of Copperhill, TN. (1) Determine what county Copperhill is in. For that county, see if you can discover (2) the number of hospitals and their bed capacity and (3) the number of physicians in the county. (4) Are any of the physicians psychiatrists? If so, how many? (5) Compared with the county that Nashville, TN, is in, would you say that HIV/AIDS is prevalent? If you cannot find the answers, at least submit a log of your attempts. Stop searching for the answers after three hours have passed.
Posted 2004-07-15 at 0625 Here are your responses to the Meena exercise. By the way, I have repaired the defective link to http://www.invisible-web.net/.
Posted on 2004-07-18 at 1910 If I decide to assign a HW due on 28 July 2004, I'll assign it 22 July 2004. |
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