A molecule called pentacene

From the news: An interesting direct view of a single molecule. Very cool.



Here is the IBM page and the article from the journal Science

1. http://www.zurich.ibm.com/news/09/pentacene.html
   
2. The Chemical Structure of a Molecule Resolved by Atomic Force Microscopy, Leo Gross et al. (Library card activation is needed if odd campus.)

Excellent.

Podcast and portal

Try adding the "UCF on iTunes U" pagelet to your Online Course Tools page in myUCF. Click the Personalize:Content link.

Friday podcast is UP.

You can go to iTunes U now and listen to the podcast of Friday's lecture, from the afternoon section. You guys in the morning section, it will be roughly equivalent to our morning lecture, so it will be good to use for study.

1. Log in to the myUCF portal.
2. Select the Online Course Tools tab.
3. Somewhere near the bottom of the Online Course Tools page is the link to Open UCF on iTunes U. Click that.
4. Your bowser opens a new window and then the iTunes application will open.
5. The iTunes application will "access" the iTunes Store but it will actually land at iTunes U.
6. Navigate to College of Sciences, then the blue Physical Science icon. Click in and listen!

I also uploaded the syllabus for each section and Friday's doc cam sketches, as an alternate method for getting those PDFs.

Note:
The podcasts are visual podcasts. They are designed to be viewed. Apple calls this type of podcast "enhanced audio." This means that the diagrams, notes and sketching are part of the podcast's artwork track, like a series of album covers. Our visual data in lecture is crucial. Most podcasts and music files usually have one album cover and that's it. But we have all the main diagrams etc. Good.

Homework 1 is ready to go!

Homework 1 is now ready for you in Webcourses. Look for the Chuck Norris icon, and click through to the main homework page. Then click into Homework 1.

About homework:

1. Homework is always due by the start of your next lecture: in this case,
   1. 10:30 AM, Monday for section 0001, and
   2. 3:30 PM Monday, for the section 0002 students.
2. You will usually have several attempts, to help you get concepts and calculations squared away. Webcourses will record your highest score of your attempts.
3. It is sometimes handy to use the HW as a study tool. Many student print them out and then work on the questions with their textbook and lecture notes open. Be creative.
4. If you get stuck, post a question in the "Motion, chapters 2 - 4" discussion area. I will be in there to comment and coach, and if you feel confident to comment, feel free. Don't just blab out the answers, though!
5. Some of my homework questions can be real brain-burners. Excellent.

Calendar

I am experimenting with an internet calendar system. It integrates with Knights Mail. Runs good. There is a blurb sheet about it on the Webcourses home page.

Emergency textbook strategery

If you are having trouble getting the textbook, or if you are just waiting for it to come in from the UCF bookstore (don't hold your breath), you might want to buy some $5 chapters in PDF from iChapters.com, which is a Cengage website. They can actually sell you the hardcover textbook, too, and they usually get it to you rapidly.

We want the blue hardcover version, not the obsolete white softcover version.

TEXTBOOK PURCHASING

1. I-chapters



2. Second method. It is called CourseSmart. I use it, myself!
   

   Physics: A World View, 6th Edition

Diagnostic test slowdown

For those of you switching sections or adding in to a lecture section, the GEP_PSC1121 - 09Fall_0001 diagnostic section might not be picking you up. You will not "see" it on Webcourses.

The Webcourses admin is trying to sort it out, normal UCF, under construction forever type of situation.

If you still cannot get in before lecture today for the GEP_PSC1121 - 09Fall_0001 diagnostic quiz, do not sweat it. It is not formally part of your semester grade. If you miss it, it will not hurt your grade.

Discussion area for CPS registration tips

If you are getting hoodwinked or discombobulated by the CPS registration in Webcourses, there is a new discussion area for posting a question. We already have over a dozen students who ARE registered, so they can give you tips.

You guys who are registered: help me out by scanning that discussion area for the next few days. The CPS/Webcourses interface does not allow the instructor to navigate through as a student, so I am "blind" on this one. If you guys can help me out, then it will also help your classmates avoid the sad fate of..... CALLAHAN!

Top two today

Here are two students at the top of my list for today:

1. Ronald-Andre St. G.
2. Emily B.

They already have their CPS clickers registered and that means one thing: BONUS POINTS!!!!!

Excellent!

Register your CPS device in Webcourses.

There is now a link on the Webcourses home page for registering your CPS device. Look for the clicker icon and have your debit card handy.

Also: if your financial aid is being held up, which I know happens some times, causing you to delay purchase of the clicker, then let me know in a course mail message.

Take diagnostic test

ALL SECTIONS: There is a special diagnostic test I would like everyone to take by Wednesday morning. It is in a different Webcourses area, "GEP_PSC1121 - 09Fall_0001" and there is only one thing you can do there: the diagnostic test. Instructions on PDF are in our regular Webcourses area, in case you did not snag the handout at the end of lecture.

Hustle and get that done before Wednesday's class, 2 bonus points. A ten minute chore.