Thank you for your very interesting presentations of Assignment #4
yesterday.  We will finish the rest of them (only a couple more) 2
weeks from now at meeting 8, and continue our discussion of "presence"
and other issues that have come to light in the last couple weeks.

Please send me electronic versions of your assignments #3 and #4 as
soon as you can, if you haven't already.  Also, when you have some
time, take a moment to browse through the several submissions that
I've already linked at http://www.media.mit.edu/~stefan/mas890, many
of which go into great depth on the ideas that were presented only
briefly (out of necessity) during our meetings.

* * *

Assignment #5 is the last before before final projects.  It is due in
3 weeks time and follows a similar presentation/submission format as
before.  Please try to keep your presentations concise to leave time
for discussion.  Here is the assignment description from the web site:

Pick a collaborative activity that common wisdom dictates is necessary
to perform synchronously (that is, at the same time) with the other
persons involved. Observe the activity or engage in it yourself, and
describe it in detail in the media of your choice.

Then, envision how the activity might be performed in an asynchronous
manner, and design a system to support this new form of the
activity. Express your ideas in drawings, photos, or a video, as well
as in writing. How does the asynchrounous activity differ from its
synchronous counterpart? Why might it be valuable in its altered form?
For "extra credit" build a prototype or implement part of your idea.

As in the previous assignment, we encourage you to work with at least
one but not more than two other people. We also strongly encourage
working with someone from the far side and/or someone who you have not
worked with before.