Do TWO of the following questions writing 250+ words each.
Or, do ONE question in 500+ words with a deeper exploration. Note that the
minimum word count gets more or less average marks depending on the quality of
content. To go above average, see the marking rubric in the course Announcements.
Address only one or two questions. Please focus your efforts. Many short answers do
not allow for thoughtful responses. There are options this week due to the breadth of
our topics; you can even make up your own question.
The notes under the ➔ question? are there to stimulate thought and help frame the
question; they are not meant to be prescriptive.
N.B.
The value of any course’s assignment is not the answer or the marks, it is in your
development of an answer.
Academic referencing of sources is standard practice for quotations or paraphrased
ideas you present in your submission. Attributing the sources from where we learned
something is an ethical tradition: to recognize and honour those from whom we
learned those ideas & words, so that we represent ourselves fairly, and to be mindful
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not to confuse ourselves, or have anyone else confuse us, with the source. Oh, and all
the cool people do it.
Please do not copy things from CourseHero or similar sites. Such action attracts
Academic Honesty reports for plagiarism.
Avoid the use of paraphrasing tools. “Evade the utilization of rephrasing implements”
is a sample result: the poor use of a thesaurus by a mindless algorithm. Paraphrase
generators do not hide plagiarism, they make it glaringly obvious. A submission
containing any text that has been through a paraphrase generator will certainly receive
fewer marks due to poor readability. Paraphrased answers without attribution –
plagiarism – will result in an assignment mark of zero or less, and an Academic Integrity
Report with additional consequences.
Avoid automated translation tools. These produce text similar in quality to
paraphrasing tools: extraordinarily awkward and mostly unreadable. Here is an
example. An answer submitted with such translation will be treated like paraphrased
text.
More than just your opinion is being asked here. An opinion is subjective, it is your
point of view, your preference, what matters to you, and nobody has to listen to it. If
you want others to consider your standpoint, a reasoned argument supported by facts,
principles, and analysis is required. An argument carries weight, could change others’
point of view, and could matter to many other people. See No, you’re not entitled to
your opinion.
➔ Write pseudocode for a robot to perform a task. Assess how much general
knowledge and “common sense” the robot would need to be successful.
All software languages have three kings of logic: sequential, decision
(selection/conditional), and iterative (looping). Pseudocode includes those structural
concepts but is intended for human reading rather than source code compiling, so the
only proscribed syntax and style is clarity. Pseudocode is a clear set of instructions, a
procedure to do something, an algorithm.
Using the three kinds of logic, write the pseudocode instructions for a robot to…
• Select a dress shirt from the closet, put it on, and button it up.
OR
• Make a sandwich for you (hint: Google video search for “algorithm sandwich”)
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How hard can it be? There is much tacit knowledge you know without thinking that a
robot also needs to complete the task without wrecking your home. E.g. you know to
open the door to the fridge or cupboard before getting something out of it.
➔ Just how many different programming languages do we really need for high level,
general purposes, e.g. as used for user-facing application programming?
N.B. Of course, low-level languages are needed for hardware specific purposes:
operating systems, device drivers, compilers, virtual machines, and embedded devices.
Those low-level uses of languages are outside the scope of the above question.
As computer hardware gets faster and more capable, the performance difference
among the various high-level, general purpose language types might become
insignificant. Could a single language become the one universal high-level, all-purpose
application language?
Make a case in favour of the many and against the one (or the few).
OR
Make a case against the many and in favour of the one (or the few).
➔ Can recipes be considered as programs?
Is a recipe really an algorithm to solve a problem? Programming uses sequential,
iterative, and decision logic to implement an algorithm. Are those three types of logic
sufficient to produce the result of a recipe? The application of an algorithm in various
environments can be the real challenge. Systems people call those Use Cases.
Tea is the most popular drink on the planet. The algorithm/computer/robot must
distinguish between making tea, drinking tea, and the phrase “Let’s have tea” which
usually means both.
“Hey robot, make tea.” — “Tea is made by the Camellia Sinensis plant. I’m a robot.”
“Hey robot, make me a cup of tea.” — “It is impossible to make a cup from tea.”
“Hey robot, let’s have tea.” — “You already have tea. It’s in the cupboard. Or in the
Roman alphabet between S and U.” And stop waking me while I’m recharging.”
Assume there is a selection of different kinds of tea available for making tea.
“Put tea into a pot or cup, add H2O at 100°C until level is 15mm from rim”.
It sounds simple but does all tea require 100°C H2O? How much tea relative to water
and what are the units of measure? How long should the tea steep? Should the tea
leaves be left in the pot/cup or removed after steeping? How would you make tea in
your kitchen, at Seneca, camping in the wilderness during summer or the depths of
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winter, on the International Space Station? Is there an algorithm to make any kind of
tea…anywhere…under any conditions?
➔ How does cloud computing change our need for personal computing hardware?
Computer hardware ranges from mainframes and servers to personal computers to
smartphones to embedded systems. The Internet brings it all together. Many think our
devices are almost useless without a network connection. Assuming effective HCI
(human computer interaction) along with reliable communications, does cloud
computing make the end-user’s hardware somewhat irrelevant? Does the cloud move
the general performance issue from personal hardware to a fast, low latency network?
➔ Cats…are they ruining the Internet or responsible for its development?
Giving credit where it is due… the following are worthy questions students have posed
and answered (you can select from these, too):
➔ How have women been important to the development of computing? And what
now? How can we encourage the IT industry to be more inclusive and better
balanced?
➔ Why is the history of computers and programming relevant and how can you use
it to advance your career/studies?
➔ Has ICT really revolutionized the world, or has it just made it faster? Are we in a
new information revolution, or are we past it?
➔ What makes C an evergreen language? How and why did it become old enough to
be thought of as evergreen?
➔ Are humans misusing the Internet and its ability to spread provocative
information like wildfire? Well, of course: humans; go figure. Why is that happening?
What can we do about it? Can we have the wonderful aspects of connecting the
world online without the downsides?
➔ Internet etiquette: Do we treat people differently when we interact online? Has
the Internet (re)shaped our interpersonal relationships?
➔ Should learning programming be mandatory in today’s school system?
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➔ Is Artificial Intelligence really a threat to humans? Is the fear of being eclipsed by
advanced technology just that: fear? Are we confusing artificial with autonomous and
intelligence with dominance? Is there evidence we should be more concerned with
projected harms than potential benefits?
➔ Is it possible that humans will merge with technology into a Singularity? Are
Cyborgs the next step in our evolution? Or, is that a few trillion synapses too far?
➔ Make up your own question germane to this week’s ideas and answer it, but it
must be an interesting question.
I HAVE ALSO UPLOADED THE DOC FOR INSTRUCTIONS JUST CHECK HERE THE UPLOADED SECTION
