Australian National University

College of Engineering and Computer Science

COMP6340

Networked Information Systems

Assignment 1

In this assignment, you are required to submit a report in the form of a single html file. You can submit additional files, if required, and these can be image files, in the form of jpg, gif or png images; or css files. Make sure that all of these files (including the specified one) are located in the same directory and that you submit all of them. Use relative links to refer to such files, eg, <a img src="myimage.jpg">. This assignment will be updated on a regular basis. Clarifications and modifications will be added as and when required.

This is a group assignment and should be completed in groups of 2. Both people in the group must contribute equally to the assignment. It is strongly recommended that both people in the group work collaboratively, rather than split the workload and work in isolation. Please note that a comp2410 student can only form a group with another comp2410 student, and not with a comp6340 student. Likewise, a comp6340 student can only form a group with another comp6340 student, and not with a comp2410 student.

Note that all work submitted must be entirely your own work. Make certain you use quality information and that you carefully reference all the material that you use. It is unacceptable to cut and paste another author's work and pass it off as your own. Anyone found doing this, from whatever source, will get a zero for the assignment. Any material that you wish to quote should have the source clearly referenced. Read the school's policy on plagiarism, to be found in the Research School of Computer Science Student Handbook.

It is strongly suggested that you start working on the report right away. You can submit as many times as you want. Only the most recent submission will be assessed. Check that your files work on the student system before submission. Please ensure that you copy your submitted files to an appropriate folder in your directory on the student system as well.

Note that the COMP2410 assignment is for the undergraduate students and the COMP6340 assignment for the postgrad students. The two are not interchangeable. If you find problems with this assignment (e.g., something is not clear, or there are broken links), please get in contact with the course lecturer immediately.

Task
First posted: Tue Mar 12 10:19:14 EST 2013
Last modified: Tue Mar 12 10:19:14 EST 2013
Questions to: Ramesh Sankaranarayana

The use of social media has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years (see http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-then-and-now-the-2008-and-2012-presidential-elections-infographic_b18132). Your task is to research and write a report on one of the following social media services:

1. Google+
2. Pinterest
3. Habbo
4. LinkedIn

1. Write briefly about the history of the service. How has it grown and evolved since it was first set up? What is it's funding model?
2. Discuss the networking model and infrastructure used by the service. How much network traffic does it receive? How many users use the service and how are they spread geographically? Does it use cloud computing and if so, how?
3. What aspects of social media does the service address?
4. Discuss the security and privacy issues, if any, that are involved with using this service. What steps can you take to protect yourself while using this service, given these issues?
5. What impact has the service had on the social life and activity of people? On politics, businesses and the media? Do you think that this impact has been mostly positive?

Your report must be between 2500 and 3000 words. It must contain a title, an abstract, an introduction, one section for each issue stated above, and a conclusion. All references must be cited. The references will be included in the word count. If you include appendices, then submit this as a separate page. Appendices will not be included in the word count.

Submit your report as a single html file named socialnetwork.html. Submit any appendices as a single html file named appendices.html. There should be a link from the report to the appendices.

Marking Scheme

The marks will be allocated as follows:

Criteria	Description	Marks
Content	The report must introduce the topic; give background information; address all the issues; illustrate with examples, where appropriate; give clear and convincing arguments; and use references as appropriate. It must obey the report size guidelines.	70
Presentation	The report must have a relevant title, author(s) details, abstract, introduction, one section for each issue, conclusion and references. It must be neatly laid out, easy to read; have a centered title, with author details below; have properly numbered section and sub-section headings; and properly labeled figures or tables. It must contain no obvious grammatical errors, errors in punctuation or spelling mistakes and must use gender neutral language.	20
Referencing	The report must use Harvard style referencing and have no dangling references. The references must be appropriate and provided where required. Online references must include urls to the source.	10

Submission Guidelines

Make only one submission per group. You will need to submit your assignments electronically using subversion. Read the information on the assignments page for instructions on electronic submission of assignments.

Note that you can only submit your assignment electronically if you belong to a lab group. Make sure that you enrol in a lab group asap.

Late Assignments

If your submission is late, then a late penalty of 10% per day applies. Assignments will not be accepted one week after the deadline.

Extensions

Extensions will only be given under special circumstances. Students should send an email to Dr. Ramesh Sankaranarayana stating the reason for the request and attach supporting documentation (e.g., medical certificate). This should be done before the deadline. Requests for extensions after the deadline will not be accepted.