Week 4: Mechanics and Downloads

We've done IP addresses, in that we know they identify computers on a network. We've looked at DNS, the domain name service that connects the name (uml.edu) to a number (129.63.1.11). This week, we asked the question "why do IP address numbers go 0 to 255?" The answer required learning about binary numbers.

Binary is the two-state representation of numbers inside a computer. For more references on binary numbers, look online. Try http://www.mathsisfun.com/binary-digits.html or http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-from-Decimal-to-Binary

We can now convert a base-10 decimal number into and out of base-2 binary representation.

This week we also learned about WinSCP, a program that lets us transfer files between the web server and our local machine. New concepts were introduced:

• local vs. server copy
• images

With WinSCP and a text editor (like jEdit or notepad++), we can edit our webpages locally on our computers, then upload them to server or all to see when we're ready.

September 14th & 16th

Website with superflous markup assignment was moved to be due September 15th, as the CS servers were having a problem with new accounts. Now everything is fixed.

We watched the History of the Internet video and took a short quiz on it.

Week 2 Summary

Tuesday, September 7

Talked about server-side processing (PHP) and client-side scripting (javascript). The base-level web interaction involves only straight text and pictures. Fancier features (like those folding/expanding titles) involve something active in the browser to change the page, and that's what scripts do. Sometimes the designer wants to give the browser custom information on each page load, and the server can do things and show the results to the browser. This is the basic jist of the class. If this isn't clear as day, ask for clarification.

Thursday, September 9

We finally got everyone logged into the CS department linux servers using puTTY on the lab machines. Using the nano text editor in the terminal, we started our first web page using the most basic tags. If you need help with putty, linux, or html, I have all the how-to's and tutorials here on the course page.

Assignment 1 is due Tuesday, September 14th at the beginning of class.

First Class 9/2/2010

Accomplished basic administrava. Section 201 did not get CS account forms, which I will have for them on Tuesday. Section 202 did get the forms, and their accounts are all set up and ready to be given out on Tuesday.

Both sections completed the pre-knowledge survey, and the results fell on a very wide interval, as expected. Nobody knew everything, which means that everybody has something to learn from the class.

My biggest concern is checking of email. Students in this class must check email often, at about once per day, to be successful. If it is not part of the daily habit, it needs to become part of it, because it is simply necessary for success in this class as well as for improved Internet-life skills.

I pose a question to my students: how often do you check other sites? How often do you check facebook or myspace? Please email me with "91.113" in the subject and tell me a) how often you reported to check your email on the survey b) how often you check facebook, or whatever else it is you use online. If there is some other site you use or read everyday (or often) tell me that.

Topics covered in class included the client-server model of information exchange. We used the peer-to-peer model to compare/contrast. We also went over the process of DNS lookup the web browser goes through to fetch a website. Both sections saw a live demo of nslookup, but only 202 got to see the IP put directly in the browser.

Next week: history.