Weblogger Quirks

Schedule
- 10:00 - 10:20 Weblog/Journal Question (see below)
- 10:20 - 11:00 CGI (Bigi)
- 11:00 - 11:10 Break
- 11:10 - 12:00 Javascript (Quad and Bigi)
- 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch
- 1:10 - 1:30 Invited speaker: Dan Berger
- 1:30 - 2:30 Continue work on website project
- 2:30 - 3:00 It's suu.. well, I hope it'll be sunny...
- 3:00 - 4:00 Invited speaker: Laura Shefler
- 4:00 - 4:30 Free period / website project

This morning, we'll do a quick overview of CGI and Javascript. Intrepid TAs Quad and Bigi will run this part of the lecture/demo, as I myself know nothing about scripting in CGI or Javascript. What they will show and tell will give you some idea of how scripts are used in web pages. If, after this morning's session, you decide you want to use CGI or Javascript in your website design project, be sure to confer with either TA regarding this.

Today we're also having a couple of invited speakers--the first, at 1 p.m. is Dan Berger, a colleague of mine here at the School of Education, a longtime sysadmin and hacker here at Tolman Hall. Dan will talk about his areas of expertise and interest: security, privacy/encryption, piracy, hacking/cracking, and being a statistician for the Golden State Warriors, among other things.

At 3 p.m., Laura Shefler--my friend and colleague, and ATDP mentor--will talk to us about the phenomenon of weblogging, a bit of its history in The Internet Classroom, and how it has to do with writing, self-expression, story-telling, and all kinds of really cool stuff. The bottom line: you kids have an audience far broader than just your classmates, TAs and teachers in this class. Please lend Laura your thoughtful attention, as you have all our other guest speakers. Laura's weblog: yinzgandantananat (ask her about it, hehe).

CGI resources:
- Programming Perl (O'Reilly books; the "camel" book)
- CGI Resources
- FreeWebspace.net

JavaScript demo:
- JS Basics
- Linking JS to CSS

JavaScript resources:
- JavaScript City
- JavaScripts.com
- JavaScript Source
- Tutorials @ WebMonkey
- ALA's Coders' Forums

Weblog/Journal question

(Read/scan Tom Fletcher's essay here, The Fox in the Henhouse then respond to these questions:)

Does your computer at home have parental controls or filtering software? Have you ever tried to get around them? How do you think your parents would feel about you doing that? Also, are you the computer wizard in the house? If you are, how do you feel about your parents when they come asking you for help? How do your parents look to you?

Lastly, we've been talking about censorship. Blocking programs are basically censorship, for example. Having your parents tell you what you can and can't say is also a form of censorship. Have you ever felt censored when you got in trouble for saying something? Are there some things you don't talk about with your parents?

Homework

Basically, none. Focus on your website design project. Flip your weblog and freewrite something. Anything. ;-)

 

(more pictures from Tuesday)

Pictures:
Eric's Script