Significant Bits
| CSC 213 |
Operating Systems and Parallel Algorithms |
Fall 2008 |
Introduction
Each of you will present a brief overview/preview/insight/review of a
recent development in the broad area of "systems." As lifelong
learners, following technological developments in the popular and
technical press as well as research publication venues is an important
practice. Your job is to inform us, at a high level, about something
that relates to the course material. The relation could be more in
principle and goal, rather than necessarily a particular topic from
the syllabus.
Content
Your presentation should include what the development
is, why it is important, a bit about how it is/was done,
and perhaps something on who did it. You are asked to do just one
during the semester, so find something interesting and share it with
us!
Schedule
The presentation schedule can be found on the course Wiki. (You must sign up for a time-slot by Wed 3 Sept.)
Please be ready to go at the beginning of class on the day you
present. This probably means coming in a little before class is to start to
prepare yourself, and/or any technology aids you are using.
E-mail your selected topic/news story/article/etc to the instructor
as soon as you decide, but no later than one class week (akin to
"business day") before you are to present. Thus, if you are
presenting in week 8, you must submit your selection by the
corresponding day in week 7.
No two bits will be allowed on the same (more or less) topic/story. Thus,
selection is first come first served (FCFS in the lingo you will
learn). There are a plethora of things happening, though, so I don't
foresee any problems.
Evaluation
You will be asked to make presentations throughout your career,
sometimes on your own work, but often on others'. More often than
not, you will be very pressed for time. Since our class meets early,
we have a lot of things to cover, and your peers are likely to need
some awakening, the expectations are quite high for an exciting five
minute tour of some interesting work. Because I believe these
activities are as important as the lab work, it will count as a
"fifteenth" lab, and I expect a reasonable amount of time will be
spent preparing and researching your newsworthy topic.
Using the same ternary scale as for exercises, your presentation
(remember, it is brief!) will therefore be evaluated on the following
criteria:
- Relevance
- Is the material relevant to course subjects?
- Clarity
-
Is the presentation made so that the desired content (above) is
easily understood?
- Preparation
-
Is the presentation adequately prepared and the presenter
sufficiently knowledgable about the material and its context?
- Appeal
-
Is the presenter engaging? Does the presentation create
interest?
To check that your presentation fits within the alloted time, and to
increase your preparation, clarity, and appeal, it is highly suggested that you practice at least once, if not twice. (It is only five minutes, after all.)
And don't be nervous! We're all here listening with eager ears.
Suggested Resources
* A highly respected, top conference.
These consumer sites have a very low signal to noise ratio and are
not particularly recommended, but occasionally interesting research
results pop up: