Copy into your editor, fill in the blanks, and place in directory
/pro/web/web/courses/cs190/2007/handins/1-26/LOGIN2.txt.  Replace LOGIN
with your CS login.  Note the 2 there so that you don't overwrite the
first handin!  Come up with at least 3 potential projects.

================================================================

Name:  Josh Gan

================================================================

Questions/comments about the syllabus or project handout:

- I'm not sure why "C++" is a criteria. The project handout doesn't
 actually offer a reasoning, just a mandate. If there's a more
 effective language for coding our project shouldn't we use that
 instead (as one would hopefully do in a "real-life" scenario)?

- There are criteria that went into my "overall" rankings beyond
 those that are explicitly listed above it. Specifically, I was
 concerned with the general appropriateness for the goals of our
 course.

================================================================

Project Title 1:

  Hemlock: Virtual Teaching Assistant


Brief Description

  Intelligently distribute questions to the most qualified
  responder. Additionally, would track the questions asked by
  each user to develop a model of their information base.

Identify Local Users:

  Potentially every child of the information age.


Assign a 1-5 score for these criteria
	Useful to others:                4
	Has specific users:              4
	Can be scaled up to PC product:  4
	Divisible:                       4
	In C++ in Sunlab (Linux):       ???

	Overall:                         3


Pros:

   - Theoretically an interesting problem (... if not some
      what ill-defined).

Cons:

   - Semantically relating questions is a difficult problem.
   - Information base is a poorly defined problem.
   - Ill-defined context for editors. Are question askers and
      answerers separate individuals with separate privileges,
      or is this a communally regulated system?
   - Seems like two projects crammed into one, both of which
      have been solved before.

================================================================

Project Title 2:

   Hemlock: Questions and Answers


Brief Description

  An extension of Google questions to track the semantic relationship
  between questions to provide more useful responses.

Identify Local Users:

  Everyone who soul burns with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.


Assign a 1-5 score for these criteria
	Useful to others:                4
	Has specific users:              4
	Can be scaled up to PC product:  4
	Divisible:                       4
	In C++ in Sunlab (Linux):       ???

	Overall:                         3


Pros:

  - Interesting problem with room for theoretical discourse.

Cons:

  - Interesting problem with room for theoretical discourse. (Some
    of that theory is potentially outside the scope of a Software
    Engineering course.)  
  - Semantically relating questions is a difficult problem.
  

================================================================

Project Title 3:

   Collaborative Medical Learning


Brief Description

  An online resource for collaborative study amongst medical students

Identify Local Users:

  Med Students (can be generalized to any group that wants to
    voluntarily cram numerous volumes of information into their
    stress addled brains)


Assign a 1-5 score for these criteria
	Useful to others:                4
	Has specific users:              5
	Can be scaled up to PC product:  4
	Divisible:                       4
	In C++ in Sunlab (Linux):       ???

	Overall:                         4


Pros:

  - Relatively well defined problem
  - Could develop into a powerful, general e-learning tool

Cons:

  - The educational model seems to be slightly confused. The question
     generator implies the body of information is authoritative;
     however, this conflicts with the communal aspect of "students"
     modifying wiki.
  - Similar, but not identical systems, do exist.
  - This could involve a significant amount of boring data entry.


================================================================

Project Title 4:

   Chemistry Stockroom


Brief Description:

   A new database to track the wares of the chemistry stock room.

Identify Local Users:

   Brown University's Chemical Consortium... could be adapted
   to any other resource that needs to be tracked.


Assign a 1-5 score for these criteria
	Useful to others:                3
	Has specific users:              4
	Can be scaled up to PC product:  5
	Divisible:                       4
	In C++ in Sunlab (Linux):       ???

	Overall:                         2


Pros:

  - This product already exists. (Well explored topic so many resources
       to assist in design.)

Cons:

  - This product already exists. (Getting credit to act as cheap labor, working
      on an already solved problem isn't the most titillating option.)
  - The project seems rather short.