Research Project Ideas

1)In the 1984 novel, Neuromancer, science fiction novelist William Gibson introduced the concept of “cyberspace.” Nearly twenty years later, advances
In the area of technology and computers have since redefined the aforementioned
term. Thus the objective of this research project is to report and analyze how the concept of cyberspace has changed over the years.

2)In Our Media, Not Theirs: The Democratic Struggle Against Corporate Media, Robert McChesney and John Nichols propose various courses of action to combat the consolidation of media by large telecommunications conglomerates. Through a book review and by using other sources, the intention here is to analyze the validity of their solutions.


Week 5 Assignment

Date: February 10, 2004
Time: 2:16-3:16 PM
Location: Computer Lab, Second Floor, College Library.

Description: After arriving at the lab, I tried to use a PC, but, as tough as it can be to try to get a PC at that time of day, I had no choice but to head to the Mac section of the lab.
Unlike the PC wing, where one would have been lucky to find a unit without a user, the Macs were as abound and plentiful as the sterile smell of the place. I also noticed that the old monitors had been replaced with NEC flat monitors. There were about ten units available, but only four users. Before sitting down, I decided to walk around to see what these four users were doing. Two of them were using the Internet (surfing). Meanwhile, the other two were doing homework; one was typing something using MS Word, and the other was using MS Paint-like software. There was no noise, except for the unmistakable toc, toc, toc sound of keyboards being struck. After sitting down, I decided to read the sports news of the day. At around 2:35, the quietness was gone, as two guys who just couldn’t shut up came to the lab. Not that it mattered anyway because no one else other than me seemed to notice. They were not using their units at all. By 2:57, those guys finally hit the road. Only five people, myself included stayed around. I then decided to take a walk to the PC side of the lab. The place was packed, as no unit seemed to be available. There was no talking here, just the clicking of keys. I went back to my Mac and checked my Email. By 3:10, more people started to arrive. They were trying to get a unit to work with, so many came my way. I then decided to leave the lab. As I left, I noticed that the four users I encountered an hour before were still around.