Computer Science for Education

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====== Blown to Bits ======

**Due date: March 11th**

As a final exam, you will submit an essay on a topic of your choice related to one of the chapters in the book //Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion// by Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen, and Harry Lewis.
This book is available online as a pdf for free at http://www.bitsbook.com/excerpts/ and the related website with additional material is at http://www.bitsbook.com/.  In particular, you may find [[http://www.bitsbook.com/blog/|their blog]] interesting and relevant to your work.

To help you navigate the book, the following table summarizes which lecture topics //loosely correspond// to which chapters. You are of course free to select any chapter (or related sections from multiple chapters), regardless what was covered in class.

^ CS 190 Topic          ^ Blown to Bits ^
| Social Networking     | Chapter 2 -- Naked in the Sunlight: \\ Privacy Lost, Privacy Abandoned |
| Cybersecurity         | Chapter 5 -- Secret Bits: \\ How Codes Became Unbreakable |
| The Internet          | Appendix \\ The Internet as System and Spirit |
| Info Assurance        | Chapter 3 -- Ghosts in the Machine: \\ Secrets and Surprises of Electronic Documents |
| Digital Divide        |  |
| Online Gaming         |  |
| History & Limits      | Chapter 1 -- Digital Explosion: \\ Why Is It Happening, and What Is at Stake? |
^ Other Topics          ^  ^
| Search Engines        | Chapter 4 -- Needles in the Haystack: \\ Google and Other Brokers in the Bits Bazaar |
| Intellectual Property | Chapter 6 -- Balance Toppled: \\ Who Owns the Bits? |
| Freedom of Speech     | Chapter 7 -- You Can’t Say That on the Internet: \\ Guarding the Frontiers of Digital Expression |
| Censorship/Regulation | Chapter 8 -- Bits in the Air: \\ Old Metaphors, New Technologies, and Free Speech |

Specific instructions and guidelines:
  * Select one chapter (or several sections) in //Blown to Bits//. Please state which one(s) you selected in your essay.
  * Write a critical response containing "new" material. This should be a contribution based on your own experience and/or an angle/view not covered by the authors.
  * You should also draw upon the points discussed in lectures, on the team blogs, and in the course wiki pages.
  * The required length is 2 to 3 pages (500 to 750 words). Your document should be formatted nicely (e.g., double-spaced with reasonable margins).
  * This assignment must be your individual work; you may not collaborate with other students other than discussing the book or course issues in general.

Please submit your essay by sharing a Google document of your paper with Brian Barker ([[bbarker5025@gmail.com]]). The deadline is **Friday March 11th**.  Late work will not be accepted; enjoy your Spring Break!
Computer Science for Education

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