Do some searching on the internet on the topic of virtual communities,
especially those with global or international participation.
Try starting by searching Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com/)
and
HotBot (http://www.hotbot.com/)
using the phrase: global "virtual communities"
In some special interest areas there are international virtual communities.
One good local site: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/impact/w96/Groups/VirComm/VCindex.html
Run the same search on Alta Vista (http://altavista.digital.com/)
and try the machine translation capability of Alta Vista on a couple
of the documents found.
It will give rough translations of abstracts, between English and major
European languages.
Think about the potential for greater global communication, cooperation,
and understanding enabled by the internet.
Come to class on Monday 2/23 prepared to speak briefly about your thoughts
and/or something you found in your search.
Here is a detailed proposal for governance of international business
via the Internet:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/New/Commerce/
2/9: Here is your assignment for the next class on 2/23:
Explore the topic of privacy on the internet. The link below contains other links on encryption. Run a search engine (hotbot, yahoo, altavista, etc.) to find other material. Come to class 2/23 prepared to contribute to a discussion.
Here is the link to the NY Times article "U.S. Losing Battle on Control of Data Encryption" that I mentioned in class on 2/9.
Link to more on privacy.
Personal consent form for listing on class home page