Alan Usas for President in 2008
News
May 5th, 2008
TA Hours
A few TA's have changed hours for this final week. David will hold hours 6-8pm on Tuesday, Luke will hold hours 10-12pm on Wednesday, and Sharon and Ian will be holding hours 8-10pm.
May 5th, 2008
Doubles troubles
Many students have been having some trouble scanning in doubles. Use
May 4th, 2008
TA Hours and Old Assignments
This is the last week of TA Hours. This also means that it is the last week to get any work from long ago checked off.
May 1st, 2008
Andrew's hours
Next week Andrew's hours will be moved from Monday 7-9pm to Tuesday 8-10pm.
April 27, 2008
Grades
Hello CS4 students!
We're working hard to get all of your grades updated and recorded on myCourses, and are planning on having everything set over the weekend.
To help us make sure that we have all of your grades up-to-date, please check your myCourses record on Monday to see that you have grades for the following:
homeworks 0-6
labs 1-9
quizzes 1-2
midterm
If you don't have a grade for lab2, please refer to the message on the website:
We had technical difficulties with the scripts that record our lab grades the week of lab2. If you do not have a grade recorded for lab 2, we're going to leave that grade blank in the mycourses gradebook, and we won't include it in your final average. However, if a student without a grade recorded saved his or her work during lab 2, and still has the file with the original timestamp on it, and wants to get a grade for lab 2, he or she can come to hours TA hours to be given credit for the lab. This only applies to students who do not have a grade for lab 2 because of our mistake, NOT students who have zeros or didn't come to lab.
If something is missing, please let us know, but NOT before Monday.
Thanks!
CS4 course staff
April 25th, 2008
Help Session
There will be a help session held on Sunday from 6-8pm and 8-10pm in the Motorola Room (CIT 165). This help session will go over latter C topics as well as answer any questions students may have regarding C. Students may attend for as long as they need/want.
April 20th, 2008
Lecture 4/24
Thursday, April 24, will be the final lecture of the semester. We encourage all of you to attend that day, as we will be handing out course evaluation forms and would like as much input as possible. Thanks!
April 14th, 2008
Lecture 4/15
Lecture will be held in Barus & Holley 166 tomorrow, April 15.
April 9th, 2008
TA Hours
TA hours have returned to their normal schedule. See the hours page to see when these times are. It is NOT ok to contact a TA off hours for help. This includes calling, texting, personal emailing, etc. as well as in person. If you need help off hours, either email the TA staff via cs004tas@cs.brown.edu or post on our mycourses message board. Thank you.
April 7th, 2008
Midterm Clarifications
There have been a few questions that have been repeated from students and therefore this page has been created to answer common questions.
Visit the clarifications page here
April 7th, 2008
Hand in
The hand in bin for CS004 is now clearly marked on the second floor.
April 3rd, 2008
Midterm Posted
The midterm has been posted on the handout's page
April 3rd, 2008
C Formating and Coding Guide
There is a new C coding and formating guide listed on the resources page
March 31st, 2008
Solutions
Some students have expressed interest in seeing solutions to homeworks and labs. We've decided not to publish the solutions on the web, but you may come to TA hours to see the solution to any problem from a previous homework or lab.
March 31st, 2008
TA Hours
Since there is no homework out this week, and no labs, regular TA Hours are canceled for this week. If you feel you need help for whatever reason, feel free to make an appointment to meet with a TA. Just send us an email.
March 20th, 2008
Lab 2
We had technical difficulties with the scripts that record our lab grades the week of lab2. If you do not have a grade recorded for lab 2, we're going to leave that grade blank in the mycourses gradebook, and we won't include it in your final average. However, if a student without a grade recorded saved his or her work during lab 2, and still has the file with the original timestamp on it, and wants to get a grade for lab 2, he or she can come to hours TA hours to be given credit for the lab. This only applies to students who do not have a grade for lab 2 because of our mistake, not students who have zeros or didn't come to lab.
March 19th, 2008
Homeworks
We've been seeing too many cases of homeworks that have runtime errors. You must make sure that your code runs before handing it in or you will be penalized in grading. In some cases, a student's code refers to a variable that isn't defined in their code, but still exists in their workspace from a previous version of the code. When a TA runs this code with an empty workspace, the program breaks. A good way to check that you don't have this problem is to run the command clear variables to clear the workspace, then run your program one last time before handing it in.
March 18th, 2008
Lab
There will be no labs held on the week after spring break (3/30 - 4/01). Enjoy your time off.
March 17th, 2008
TA Hours
Ben's hours will be held from 9-11 this week (Tuesday) instead of his usual 8-10.
March 16th, 2008
Homework 5 Update
The instructions in the last problem have been changed slightly in the interest of making the problem clearer.
March 13th, 2008
Quiz 3/18
There will be a quiz in class this coming Tuesday. Like the last quiz, you will not be able to consult your notes or use your computer.
March 11th, 2008
Homework 4 Issues
In problem 3, some students have noticed that rounding divided decimals can give unexpected results (for example, try inputting floor((.3-.2.)/.1) into MATLAB). If you want to work around this problem, all your calculations could be in cents instead of dollars (so 5 dollars is 500 cents, etc.), then convert back into dollars at the end of the problem. This is not necessary, though.
Also, there has been an update to problem 5. Please download the updated version and make sure that the answers you hand in reflect the most recent version of the homework.
March 10th, 2008
TA Hours
Andrew's hours tonight will be held from 6-8 instead of 7-9.
March 7th, 2008
Grades
Any students who have not received their grades from TAs via email, with rubrics, then it is because their mail-forwarding is not set up correctly. They should rectify this ASAP by coming in and talking with the Sunlab consultant.
March 3rd, 2008
TA Hours
Andrew's hours have been moved to Wednesday 6-8 for this week instead of tonight (Monday)
March 2nd, 2008
TA Hours
Ashwin Cadambi will be holding TA hours this week on Monday from 5 to 7 pm. We hope this time will be more convenient for some of you.
Please use TA hours! Every night from Sunday to Wednesday there are TAs in the fishbowl (CIT second floor) waiting for you to come ask questions. If there is a concept from lecture you would like to go over, or a homework problem that you need help on, we strongly encourage you to come to hours and talk to a TA. Thanks!
Febuary 29th, 2008
Lab Reminders
You must show up to your assigned lab.
You can only change labs by running the script (as explained in a previous post) between Tue. @ 10pm and Sun.
@ 6pm to change your lab time for the UPCOMING week
If you show up to an unassigned lab, the only way to receive credit is to show the lab TAs an email from the
HTAs
Check whether your name is on the list before the lab starts
Febuary 26th, 2008
TA Hours
Luke's hours will be from 8-10 tonight due to the MA52 Exam
Febuary 24th, 2008
Homework 2.7 Correction
A few corrections have been made to problem 2.7, and the most recent version of Homework 2 is available in the handouts section. Be sure that the solution you submit reflects the most recent version of the problem. If you have already handed in the homework, you can revise and resubmit until Thursday and your previous handin will be overwritten.
Febuary 21th, 2008
Homework 2
Task three of homework problem 2.4 and homework problem 2.5 require logical indexing, a Matlab concept that Professor Usas will introduce in lecture on Tuesday. Homework 2 is due next Thursday, February 28th. If you already submitted your homework and you'd like to revise it before the deadline next Thursday, you can always run the handin script again to overwrite your previous handin.
Febuary 20th, 2008
Miscellany
If you have unresolved issues with grading or other unresolved questions you've emailed us about, tonight would be a good time to come to office hours and talk with a HTA. Ian will be moving his office hours back one hour from 8-10 to 9-11. Also, note that the correction to homework 2 was a correction to the formula for time in problem 2.7. Make sure your solution is based on the most recent version of the homework!
Febuary 19th, 2008
Problem 2.5 Problem
Problem 2.5 asks you to save your code in primes.m. However, primes.m is already a Matlab file, so please save your code in
Febuary 18th, 2008
Homework 2
A correction has been made to the homework 2 handout. Please make sure to use the correct version. Also make sure to clear your browser's cache so that you get the correct version.
Febuary 16th, 2008
TA Hours
There will be NO TA hours over the long weekend. Have a good break.
Febuary 12th, 2008
Quiz Thursday
There will be a quiz on Thursday, Febuary 14th, 2008. The quiz will be in class, closed notes and no computers. It will cover material through lecture 5.
Febuary 12th, 2008
Collaboration Policy
Remember that the current collaboration policy is in the course
missive, which can be found on the resources page. Here's a recap of
the collaboration policy:
Febuary 7th, 2008
TA Hours
TA Hours are held in the "birdcage" on the second floor. The room is left of the glass doors by the stairs (left from the inside)
Febuary 6nd, 2008
Lab Assignments
Please bear with us while we get lab times sorted out. We have posted updated lists for your permanent
lab assignment on the course website. It is really important that you check to make sure your assignment
is correct right now. If something is amiss, send an email to
cs004tas@cs.brown.edu
right away.
Note that starting this week, we will not be flexible with switching labs via email -- all requests to
switch labs (permanently or temporarily) must be done by running a script (as described before). Because
of some confusion about the "24-hours in advance rule", we've simplified our policy: You can only run the
lab-switch script between Tuesdays at 10:00pm (when labs are done for the week) and Sundays at 6:00pm
(when labs begin for the week).
Here's an example situation: Sarah has a permanent lab time of
Tuesday at 6:00 but she needs to switch into the Monday 7:00 lab just for the Monday, 2/11 lab because
of a family emergency. She must go into the Sunlab and run the
Make sense? Email cs004tas@cs.brown.edu with any questions about this
policy, since we'll be adhering to it strictly.
Sunday 6-8
Sunday 8-10
Monday 7-9
Monday 9-11
Tuesday 6-8
Tuesday 8-10
Febuary 5th, 2008
Collaboration Policy
The collaboration policy has been updated since HW0 went out. Please re-read the collaboration policy either through the current HW0 file or the Course Missive (on the resources page). Do not worry about signing a new collaboration policy sheet, by signing a policy sheet, you are agreeing to the updated one.
Febuary 2nd, 2008
Switching Labs
If you have a conflict with your scheduled lab time and need to switch you have two options, switch
permanently or switch temporarily (for one week). In either case you must switch at least 24 hours
before your scheduled lab. In order to switch labs you must be logged into a computer in the Sunlab.
Open up a terminal window. To switch temporarily type
Febuary 2nd, 2008
Sunday Hours
New CS4 Students,
For all of you who have just recently joined the class (missed some of the lectures and the first lab),
there are TA hours this sunday from 8-10pm. I will be there to help everyone who has missed class catch
up with what they missed, so that you are ready to do the homework and attend lab.
Please print out and THOROUGHLY READ the lecture notes for the days that you missed. This will help make
sure that we can get through as much material as possible. I will be there to answer questions and
explain concepts but will not be able to go through all of the 7 hours of lecture that have taken place
in class.
Thank you. I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.
-Alex Unger
Febuary 2nd, 2008
Ben's Hours
For the next two weeks, Ben's hours will be 10:00pm - 12:00am Sunday instead of his normal 9:00pm - 11:00pm Monday.
Febuary 2nd, 2008
Lab Assignments
Below are links for each of the 6 lab sections. If you submitted a choice for a lab section your login
(or in a few cases full name) will be listed in one of those files. This will be your lab time for the semester.
Sunday 6-8
Sunday 8-10
Monday 7-9
Monday 9-11
Tuesday 6-8
Tuesday 8-10
Febuary 1st, 2008
Labs Times
Everyone will recieve their lab assignments tomorrow afternoon.
January 29, 2008
Labs
Students must signup with their preferences for lab times
Signup Here:
http://www.brown.edu/signup/user/signup.php?action=SIGNUP&project_id=322
January 25, 2008
Your First Lab
Remember, you must attend a mandatory lab session in the Sunlab of the CIT from 4-6 pm on
January 25, 2008
Installing MATLAB
To install the full version of MATLAB on your home computer, follow the instructions in the MATLAB Installer Reference, which can be found in the Resources section of the website. If you have a Windows computer and you'd like to install a reduced-size version of MATLAB, you can also find the link to that .exe file in the Resources section of the website. This file is password-protected, and the password can be found on CS4 MyCourses page.
January 23rd, 2008
Welcome
Welcome to CSCI0040 (formerly CS4). This site will serve as the primary location for course content. The course's
MyCourses site will be used for discussions.
Please note that all students are required to sign and hand in the NON-collaboration Policy
to receive credit for the course.
January 22nd, 2008
WiCS Meeting
There is a WiCS (Women in Computer Science) meeting right after the first CS004 lecture, on Thursday, January 24th at 4pm in the 3rd floor atrium of the CIT. Anyone interested should attend this meeting.