Section One - Topics to be Covered in Class.  Links are for your information

Before the break:

• Lecture on  The Great Disruption by Fukuyama and other analyses of the "information society" or "post-industrial" or "third wave" future or The Age of Social Transformation or The Age of Spiritual Machines.  How have these futurists visualized the future?  How well have futurists done in the past in predicting the future, e.g., the writers who dealt with the "energy crisis" in the 1970s?  (Jay Forrester's Limits to Growth vs. Herman Kahn's The Next 200 Years.)
• What does it mean that the gap between the rich and poor is getting wider, just as crime and social pathology are decreasing?  Note that the income levels of the poor are increasing since 1993, just not as quickly as those of the rich.
• Why have we had a downturn in the levels of serious crimes? 
• Can a Generational Analysis provide a better understanding of cyclical trends in American Society?  Is history a repetitive four-generational cycle as Straus and Howe have discussed in their books Generations and The Fourth Turning?  Can we categorize generations into four archetypes:
• Idealists or Prophets
• Reactives or Nomads
• Civics or Heroes
• Adaptives or Artists
• Does this generational scheme explain US History or European History?

•  Lecture on the History andFuture of the internet.

After the break:

• reports on support group discussions.
• an introduction to the Webmind Project.
• review as needed on the use of Netscape Composer to prepare Home Pages and Internet Diary files and to post files on your WEB files.  These instructions are available online.  Computer Center staff will provide help as they do to all students working on assignments.  Special help is available to groups of 10 or more students who make an appointment with Ron Thornton at the computer center.
• Clarification of some terms:
• Your WEB SITE is a folder on the clam computer (or elsewhere if you use another server) which includes all the files you wish to post on the WEB.  The folder name is "html" and it has already been created on your account for you.  You should keep a backup copy of all the files on a floppy disk or on your own hard drive, or both.
• Your HOME PAGE is a file which is posted on your WEB SITE with the file name "index.html"   This is better than "index.htm" since the operating system will go automatically to "index.html" as a default if no specific file request is given, it will not go to "index.htm".  Your HOME PAGE is the "table of contents" for your WEB SITE.  It should include your email address and any other personal information you like.  It must also include links to other sites, such as your Internet Diary.  You can have only one HOME PAGE on a WEB SITE.  If you already have a home page, all you need to do is add a link to your INTERNET DIARY file.  Later you will add links to other files created for this course.
• Your INTERNET DIARY is a file to be posted on your WEB SITE.  It should be called "webdiary.htm".  You should keep a copy of this file on your own floppy disk or hard drive.  Each week, you should add your new entry at the beginning of this file, pushing the others down the "page."  Then post it again to your WEB SITE.  Your HOME PAGE should include a link to your INTERNET DIARY.

Section Two - ASSIGNMENTS FOR NEXT WEEK

1. Read "Disappearing Ink" by Todd Gitlin, an op-ed piece from today's New York Times.  This will help you make sure your Times online account is working.
2. Read the Networking the Nerds,  Serving the Suits,  Wiring the World,  and and Future of the internet pages on the PBS History of the Internet site.  If you have problems linking to the pages directly from this site, go to the History of the Internet site  and follow the links from  Networking the Nerds.

1. Read about  Vannevar Bush's "Memex Machine."
2. Read the Introduction from Webmind:  Programming True Intelligence on the Internet by Ben Goertzel with Ted Goertzel.
3. Prepare a computer file in HTML format to be called index.html. This is to be your Home Page.  This should include the following information:  Your Name, your email address and a link to your Internet Diary (a file to be called webdiary.htm).  Other links will be added later.  You may also include any other information you wish, such as photographs, links to other courses, hobbies, etc. etc. etc.  For ideas, look at the home pages prepared by students in this course last semester.  This file should be saved on a floppy disk and you should print out a copy to hand in to Andrew Toy at the beginning of class on September 17.
4. Prepare a computer file in HTML format to be called webdiary.htm.  This file will include your INTERNET DIARY, and should be updated each week.  There should be a link from your home page to this file.  This file should be saved on a floppy disk and you should print out a copy to hand in to Andrew Toy at the beginning of class on September 17.
5. NOTE: You have until September 24 to have these files posted on your WEB site.  The first step is to prepare the files and save them on a disk.
6. Take a look at next week's WEB site.