assignments
due Tue Jan 27
getting started
- Read the first two chapters, through page 77, in "Head First".
- Read the following from our IT folks :
- Create a text file, and upload it to http://www.marlboro.edu/~YOUR_USERNAME/intro_internet/jan27/demo.txt .
- Now create an HTML file (your choice as to content), and put it in demo2.html in the same folder.
- Visit both of these with a browser, and take a screenshot image. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenshot if you don't know how to do this, to find your computer's tricks, or install a 3rd party tool. For mac, cmd-shift-3 or cmd-shift-4. For windows, http://www.codeplex.com/cropper)
- (You may find these more detailed instructions handy.)
- Using the link at the right of this assignment,
- tell me something about your previous computer and internet experience,
- let me know how this assignment went, and
- upload the screenshot.
due Tue Feb 3
networks, utf-8, images
- Read through chapter 7, to page 52, in the Internet Book.
- Read through chapter 5, to page 222, in Head First HTML.
- Look up an ASCII table. (Anywhere; wikipedia or google search is fine.) What number is space in base 10? Base 2? Base 16 (i.e. hex)?
- Browse wikipedia:unicode_and_HTML and wikipedia:utf-i. What number base 10 corresponds to the greek capital delta? In hex? How would you put that character into a web page?
- Create a web page with at least one image which you have modified with an image application of some sort. On the page describe briefly what modifications you made using the ul and li tags, and give a link to the original image. Include some CSS in your page to set the color of something. (Be tasteful, eh?)
- What is a LAN? Give two common examples on the Marlboro campus.
due Thu Feb 12
history and xhtml
(This was originally due on Tues, but several
people were sick on Fri, so I've moved the date back one class.)
- Read chapters 8 through 11 in the Internet Book.
- Browse wikipedia:history of the internet, wikipedia:internet governance, and any of the references there that look interesting.
- Discuss who owns, manages, or controls the internet, and how this has evolved over time. Include an explanation of the following :
- Estimate how long it takes to transmit the text of bible over a phone modem. (Assume its a 56kbps modem, and that each character takes 1 byte. Estimate the number of characters by a rough guess at pages * lines/page * char/line.) How does that the number of bits for the text encode the number of bits for the pictures? (Again, take any guess you like for the number and size of the pictures.)
- Read chapters 6, 7, and 8 in Head First HTML.
- For this week's web page, create a standards compliant xhtml page, with a css stylesheet in a separate file. Choose as a topic anything related to internet history or governance, such as network neutrality, censorship in china, or whatever. Include at least one image. Use at least one style class selector.
due Tue Feb 17
fonts, colors, and network tools
- Read chapter 9 in Head First.
- Browse the links in the last two pages of notes on TCP/IP, packets, network tools, font sizes, the Zen Garden, and all that.
- Experiment with font sizes and styles in the last web page that you did. (Or pick an earlier one, adapt it to xhtml, and experiment with it.)
- First, look at the old version, and change the font size within the browser. Do the pictures change size, too? Is this behavior consistent with different browsers?
- Now modify the code to set sizes for all the text and images in pixels. Again, change the font size in the browser. What happens?
- Then pecify all sizes (both fonts and images) in em. Is the behavior still the same when you change the browser's font zoom?
- Add some sort of style change to some of the fonts, and experiment with any other changes that strike your fancy.
- Explore at least one of the network tools we discussed: traceroute, nmap, wireshark, or another from sectools.org. Explain what you did, and what it told you about packets, what's in 'em, and how they move around the internet.
due Tue Feb 24
boxes, TCP/IP, DNS
- Read chapters 12 through 20 in the Internet Book, on TCP/IP, DNS, and NAT
- Read chapters 10 and 11 in Head First
- Create a web page with a left navigation menu, and a right "aside" margin, along the lines of the page in the Head First text. In it, describe what "domain names" are, including the protocol, the root servers, and how you would go about owning a domain name.
- Add some links to the class "news" page (see the links at the left) and the "favorites" section in the resources page.
due Fri Mar 6
midterm project
- This will be for a grade.
- Create a web site consisting of several pages with a common layout and "look".
- The pages should use xhtml, css, images, and show that you understand all the "web page creation" stuff that we've been working through this semester.
- It should pass the w3c validation tests, and follow the accessibility guidelines.
- It should follow reasonable practices, including, date, license, author, clear navigation.
- The topic should be a discussion of one of the big internet sites or organizations, such as google, wikipedia, facebook, or other of your choice. The pages on your site should examine different aspects such as (overview|business model|history|competition|critiques|bibilography), though the choice as to what exactly to cover is up to you.
- The size of the work should be comparable to a 5 page paper.
- Online or offline sources are OK; in either case, do cite your sources. Any reasonable citation format is fine. See for example http://akbar.marlboro.edu/~jsheehy/sources/ .
- Extensions until the week following are possible; if you need more time let me know. If so, please post an initial draft.
- Questions about what's expected? Ask me.
due Sun Mar 7
midterm grade
- a place for Jim to record the midtmer grade.
due Fri Mar 13
layout and email
- Read chapters 12 and 13 in Head First, on layout and tables.
- There are many other good references for this material online; see for example
- Create a small, "fake" webpage, and use it to explore
- absolute, static, fixed, and relative positioning
- ... with different types of div's embedded inside each other
- ... with different background colors
- ... and background images
- ... and transparencies
- ... and how "floats" interact with all this.
- Is it possible to "hide" a div so that it cannot be seen on the web page?
- Read chapter 21 in "The Internet Book.
- Read the following related wikipedia articles :
- Following the blurb in the wikipedia SMTP article, and my example in class, telnet to port 20 and send some email by hand, using the SMTP protocol. (The campus mail server is mail.marlboro.edu)
- Discuss briefly from your readings the problems with the email protocol(s) as currently implemented, and any possible fixes.
due Tue Apr 7
last css
- Welcome back from break.
- Read chapter 13 (getting tabular) and 15 (what we missed) in the HTML book.
- Upload a picture or video to flickr, youtube, or facebook. (If in doubt, see if their help files will , well, help.)
- This is the last CSS page exercise :
- Create a webpage that illustrates the following technologies:
- A table with irregular blocks, like we did in class.
- A "cleaner" look when printed, also as discussed in class.
- An embedded youtube video.
- If time allows, also try to add a "special effect":
due Tue Apr 14
javascript 1
- Read through some of this javascript tutorial.
- Create a webpage or two from their exercises.
- Come to class ready to show what you've done, and to discuss how all this works, and with any questions.
due Tue Apr 21
javascript 2
- Browse through the links from the Tues class this week, continuing your exploration of Javascript.
- Create a page that modifies (replaces, moves, makes visible, ...) an image or images, either in response to some user input (mouse position, button, ...) or just over time (like a slideshow).
- Download and try out a function from either the jquery.com or prototypejs.org library. Include an example on your page.
- Discuss briefly how forms work in webpages: what is the action? what can be done with the data on the client side? On the server side? In what language?
- Describe briefly how this two weeks of javascript has gone, and how of much of the scripts we've been playing with make sense at this point.
due Tue Apr 28
php and RSA
- last weekly assignment ...
- Read the materials I posted on tuesday's notes on php and security
- Put up a web page on emptywidgets that includes some PHP - at least the "include" tag, and any other example or tutorial you like.
- Create a public/private RSA key for yourself. (One way to do so is with gnupg.org 's free software, or you can use the command line openssl program.) Post the public key with your assignment.
- Find my public key 0x29A4465F , for example from pgp.mit.edu, search "mahoney@marlboro.edu", and use and your key to send me an encrypted, signed message.
due Tue May 5
project discussion / joomla
- Come to class ready to talk about your final paper.
- Review the joomla site on emptywidgets.com ; see the joomla notes page.
due Fri May 8
final project
- Create a website (one page or several) an internet related topic of your choice.
- The site should show your understanding of the various web tech we've covered over the semester: xhtml, css, javascript, images, multimedia, tables, and so on, optionally including (if we get that far) a bit of PHP server side stuff.
- Be ready to present a preliminary version of the page, and particularly the page content, on the last day of classes, Tues May 5.
- This one will be graded on 1) the paper content, and 2) the technical merit (validation, css, and all that.)
term grade
- a place for jim to record the term grade.