Lab Assignments

(/afk) Lab assignments are posted here as the semester progresses.
(Image at right from icanhascheezburger.com).

Open Lab Hours: 31 Gregory Hall is generally open for work on your assignments Su-Mo 11-midnight, Tu-We 4-midnight, Th 5-midnight, and Fr 11-5 (closed Saturday). For up-to-date lab information check: http://media.illinois.edu/current/computer

3/15 Update! Additional open labs! Any of the campus ICS Computer Labs with PCs in them also have our software installed. Many ICS labs are often open until midnight.

The /afk Pass: You get two /afk passes during the semester. Each pass gives you an automatic 24-hour extension on a lab assignment. You can’t spend both on the same assignment. You spend an /afk pass by being late, there is no need to tell anyone.

Assignment 0: Microblogging
- Instructions (pdf)
- Additional Resources: (Optional)
  Official Twitter Tutorial The Twitter Hash Tag: What is it? How to Post on Tumblr
Assignment 1: Web Graphics
- Instructions (pdf)
- Additional Resources: (Optional)
  The GIMPtricks YouTube Channel (includes GIMP for Absolute Beginners, Image Resizing, What is an Alpha Channel? and more) Inkscape for First-Time Users (video)
Assignment 2: Web Pages
- Instructions (pdf) (fixed typo 2/22)
- Additional Resources: (Optional)
  HTML Elements Reference CSS cheat sheet validator.nu (HTML checker)
Assignment 3: Program a Game
- Instructions (pdf) (new: pre-lab do steps A1-A10)
- Additional Resources (used during assignment):
  Scratch Getting Started Guide Scratch Video Tutorials Scratch Cards
- Additional Resources (optional):
  Scratch Tours Scratch FAQ The Scratchr Resources Page Scratch Reference Guide
Assignment 4: Audio & RSS
- Instructions (pdf) (clarified multiple instructions 3/16) (pre-lab do steps A1-A3)
- Assignment Files: alices_adventures_01_carroll_64kb.mp3 aliceinwonderland_00_carroll_64kb.mp3
- Additional Resources (used during assignment):
  Audacity Toolbars FEED Validator
- Additional Resources (optional):
  What Are Webfeeds (RSS)? Guide to Making an RSS File
Assignment 5: Web Servers & Dynamic Web Pages
- Instructions (pdf) (updated to fix part E 3/31, fixed typos 4/2, 4/4)
- Additional Resources (optional):
  Update my "'A' Record" in GoDaddy (video) - PHP Language reference - PHP help on Stack Overflow - PHP Tutorials by TeachMeComputer (videos) - The PHP Tutorial for Beginners (1 long page)
Assignment 6: Interfaces
- Instructions (pdf) (updated 4/14) (deadline extended 1 week)
  Here is a list of easily clickable links for the Example API Queries in Part D.
- Additional Resources (optional):
  Understand HTTP Cookies in 2 Minutes (video) Online JSON Visualizer
  Resources above from previous labs are useful here (esp. Lab #2 and #5).
- Solutions:
  (The name of a country is a good answer to question #1 to see what these quizzes can do. Only the third page containing the API call differs in these examples.)
  - Basic Solution using Google Maps API (try it online, download source code)
  - Solution using Wikipedia API (try it online, download source code)
  - Fancy Solution using several APIs (try it online, download source code)
  - (Suggest your own solution! We'll put it here if it uses different APIs.)
Final Project: A (Simple) Web-Based Application
- Assignment (pdf)
- List of Example Project Topics
- Team and Topic Sign-Up Form (fill this in by Wednesday 4/25)
- Additional help/instructions:
  - Help Using the Mac with Your AWS Server (pdf)
  - Turn Your Project into a Facebook App (video tutorial):
    watch part 1 (11 mins), watch part 2 (16 mins).