This page contains OLD news moved from the class main web page.

Fri, Apr. 6: Web pages started.

FYI - the class is nearly identical in general format, requirements, etc. to the Spring 2001 section, including the content and processing of the diagnostic exam. The differences will be in the content of the lectures primarily.

The diagnostic exam on the first day will be held at USC (GFS106, Tues May 22); all other class meetings will be at USC's Information Sciences Institute in Marina del Rey.

The class size will be limited to 20 students this semester, due to limited resources. A small number of students will be able to jointly participate in CS558 and SGREP. Click here for info on the combination.

Mon, May 7: This semester the class will focus on project planning and management. Projects will continue to combine operating systems, distributed systems, and networking issues.

There are clarifications to the use of past diagnostic exam grades. Passing grades from the previous term's diagnostic exam are accepted for this term. The selection policy is applied to ALL students passing the diagnostic exam.

Wed, May 9: Location and date of the diagnostic exam posted (GFS106, Tues May 22). TA and grader info posted.

Thu, May 24: Diagnostic exam results posted.

Tues, May 29: A word about the class size and 'deferrals'. First, we are not lowering the admission criteria to fill openings left by students who chose not to register.

Second, there is no 'deferral'. Students who are admitted may choose not to register; while their pass on the exam can be applied to the next session (Spring 2002), there are incoming students and changes in credits which will change their priority. In particular, while credits will be applied to seniority, too many credits may render an applicant ineligible as well. The policy for Spring 2002 is in flux. Keep this in mind when making your decision.

Tues, May 29: Please send email to the TA (Ning Xu) ASAP; he is creating a mail list to inform you about combination lock codes, lab information, etc.

Tues, May 29: project ideas are posted. This is not intended as a complete list, and ideas posted are not ensured to be eligible. They are just places to start thinking.

Tues, May 29: Lab assignments posted .

Wed, May 30: A word about the lab. Lab projects will NOT require or permit opening the machines. Last semester some components walked off; that will be monitored and dealt with very harshly. The machines are NOT to be OPENED at all. Ever. Internal access is for the TA only.

FYI, access to the lab is now 24/7; if we find that these procedures have been violated, access to the lab will be restricted (to business hours, or ultimately to TA hours only).

Wed, May 30: I forgot to mention - the presentations, and sometimes the projects, follow a theme each time this class is taught. Last semester this theme was "denial of service".

This semester we have two themes - latency, and fault tolerance. Your presentation will need to focus on one of these two themes, and it would be useful if your project addressed one of them in some way as well.

Fri, June 22: Please check for revisions to the presentation schedule (one presentation has slid later).

Fri, June 15: The schedule for presentations is now posted - see the lecture schedule or the presentations (to the left).

Don't forget that project proposals are due BEFORE CLASS on Tuesday. Mail them to me (touch@isi.edu). Remember to include answers to the '5 basic questions', and describe your project (in newspaper-style, as discussed). This proposal will contribute to your project grade.