In principle, the subject of the second essay can be the consideration of any current research topic or current technological development in Computer Science. A good essay will (i) help the reader to gain an understanding of the concepts involved in the subject area of the essay, (ii) provide an overview of the current state, possibly together with some historical information of the subject area, (iii) cover debates, different points of views, open questions, directions of future research and development in the subject area. Of particular interest are topics where there has been or there currently is a debate between two sides holding opposing views, e.g. pros and cons of software patents. In such a case the essay should present both sides and try to evaluate their arguments.
The subject of the second essay needs to be agreed between student and module co-ordinator. You should do so by sending an e-mail to U.Hustadt@csc.liv.ac.uk with your intended subject. As you should not start to work on your essay before you have received confirmation that your intended subject is acceptable, you should reach an agreement as soon as possible, ideally by Friday, 31 October 2008.
To give you some ideas for appropriate topics, here is a list of some of the topics that studens have chosen in the past, in no particular order:
That a particular topics has been done before does not prevent you from choosing the same or a similar topic for yourself.