Social and Information Networks, Spring 2020

January 6, 2020

Some slides for the weekly lectures will usually be posted at the end of each week to Course Contents. I will also provide links to some additional relevant materials and will indicate the appropriate chapters of Easley and Kleinberg (EK). However, the Course Content page and links therein do not replace attending lectures and tutorials. In particular, the lecture slides will not include everything discussed in the lectures.

January 13, 2020

The lectures were scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays with tutorials on Fridays. However, for many weeks we prefer to hold the tutorial on a Wednesday in which case the lectures will be Monday and Friday. At the moment we need an additional tutorial room but the plan for this coming week is to have the tutorial on Wednesday. This will be settled in time for the lecture on Monday. If you have a conflict, then please figure out how to eliminate that confict. All lectures will be held in GB248. We will initially start with 2 tutorial sections, one being held in GB248.

January 14, 2020

The first three questions for Assignment 1 have been posted.

January 20, 2020

Question 1 in Assignment 1 has been reworded. We now have a second room SS 1070 for tutorials when held on Wednesdays (which will be the standard day for the tutorials). Students with day of month birthdays 16-31 are in the SS 1070 section while the other students remain in GB 248.

February 2, 2020

The assignment is now complete.

February 7, 2020

The assignment is due at 2:59 (on Markus) on Friday, February 14. Solutions will be discussed in the commone tutorial in GB248. Question 7 was reworded to say what to do when the simulation does not terminate.

February 11, 2020

Questions 6b and 6d has been clarified. For various reasons I have to change the discussion of Assignment 1 to Monday, February 24. There will NOT be a tutorial this Friday, February 14 since it was clear (from the February 12 lecture) that there was no need or desire for the tutorial.

February 16, 2020

There are no office hours during reading week. As announced, there will be a tutorial on Monday, February 24 and lectures on Wednesday and Friday. I plan to post the start of Assignment 2 on Monday, the 17th (or Tuesday).

February 18, 2020

First five questions of Assignment 2 have been posted.

February 24, 2020

I will not be holding office hours today. There is a tutorial today at 3PM in GB 248. I will have my usual office hour 4:30-5:30 on Wednesday and I will also have an office hour 1:30-2:30 on Friday this week.

March 3, 2020

The first part of the midterm takes place tomorrow in the usual tutorial rooms GB248 and SS 1070. The second part of the midterm takes place Friday in GB248 and Haultain 403 (for those normally in SS1070). Please go to the tutorial to which you were assigned so that we have enough test papers.

With some misgivings (for reasons given and for other reasons), I have posted solutions for A1.

March 11, 2020

I have shortened question 7 so that it only has one part.

March 12, 2020

Important Message:

The university is considering contingency plans to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now the University remains open and we are all asked to prepare plans should the University need to close. I plan to continue to hold lectures but will follow all instructions from the University. I understand that some students may feel uncomfortable about attending classes. As you know, lecture slides are available for those wishing not to attend class. In addition, I will try to be as available as possible for skype calls in addition to my regular office hours and usual communication on piazza. The tutorial will be held tomorrow in GB248. We should be able to return the midterms tomorrow.

March 13, 2020

As you probably now know, the University has cancelled all classes starting this coming Monday until April 3. Assignment 2 and the critical review should still be submtted on time via Markus. Decisions about the final exam will be made by the University, We will be following their advice and instructions in all matters (including grading) as they become known.

March 15, 2020

For the rest of the term, we will be posting lecture slides (as usual). However, we cannot stop to respond to questions nor can we add additional comments as we discuss the material.

I will hold office hours remotely (by skype) during the regular office hour times (Mondays 1:30-2:30 and Wednesdays 4:30-5:30) as well as additional skype meetings upon request. My skype address is abborodin@gmail.com. In order to schedule meetings during the regular office hours, please request a 10-15 minute time slot by sending me an email with title "CSC303 - office hour meeting request" at the latest one hour before regular office hours. For meetings out of regular office hours entitle your email as "CSC303 - meeting request". I will try to meet all requests at some time.

Mainly keep well. Study but get enough sleep.

March 15, 10:30PM, 2020

Clearly things are changing rapdidly regarding how the A&S Faculty and the University are responding to COVID-19 issues regarding classes, exams and grading. We are still evaluating how best to proceed and will be taking advice from colleagues. As far as we know the University has not cancelled final exams while the Faculty has indicated that students need not return to campus. The DCS department is exploring the use of live stream lectures (using zoom). This will not be possible for Mondays lecture but may be available for the Friday lecture IF we can get this organized. Many options are avaialble as to how to adapt the grading scheme in response to the events. Please be assured we fully understand your concerns about how grades will be determnined. We will keep you posted on this web page and piazza so please keep tuned.

March 16, 2:20PM, 2020

It looks like we have zoom working. I will do a trial run today for a very short lecture just to m ake sure everything is working. I will give lectures W,F this week and then M,F for the next two weeks. I will use the next two Wednesdays for office bhours, either for me or as TA office hours. Hopefully everyone has received an invite to the zoom session.

Here is the link to zoom for this course:

href="https://zoom.us/j/215967322?pwd=SHI5OVB4R0s5SmtLMjZ5aW1WTnAxQT09">https://zoom.us/j/215967322?pwd=SHI5OVB4R0s5SmtLMjZ5aW1WTnAxQT09