11,699 research outputs found
Video Game Development in a Rush: A Survey of the Global Game Jam Participants
Video game development is a complex endeavor, often involving complex
software, large organizations, and aggressive release deadlines. Several
studies have reported that periods of "crunch time" are prevalent in the video
game industry, but there are few studies on the effects of time pressure. We
conducted a survey with participants of the Global Game Jam (GGJ), a 48-hour
hackathon. Based on 198 responses, the results suggest that: (1) iterative
brainstorming is the most popular method for conceptualizing initial
requirements; (2) continuous integration, minimum viable product, scope
management, version control, and stand-up meetings are frequently applied
development practices; (3) regular communication, internal playtesting, and
dynamic and proactive planning are the most common quality assurance
activities; and (4) familiarity with agile development has a weak correlation
with perception of success in GGJ. We conclude that GGJ teams rely on ad hoc
approaches to development and face-to-face communication, and recommend some
complementary practices with limited overhead. Furthermore, as our findings are
similar to recommendations for software startups, we posit that game jams and
the startup scene share contextual similarities. Finally, we discuss the
drawbacks of systemic "crunch time" and argue that game jam organizers are in a
good position to problematize the phenomenon.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Game
R behind the scenes: Using S the (un)usual way
R is not only a program for analyzing and visualizing data, it is an
open and programmable software environment. It can not only easily
access other programs written in a wide variety of languages, but also
be accessed itself from other programs. As such, it can be seen as the
computational Swiss army knife of statistics. Connecting a program to
R can be surprisingly simple, and once the connection is established,
the perhaps largest existing collection of statistical methodology is
available through a unified interface. Embedding R can save a lot of
human time by automating routine tasks, but more importantly, it often
gives a simple way of making our methods accessible to a much wider
audience
IBM: Building a Smarter Planet (Interview with Sandy Dochan and Jeff Tieszen)
A candid discussion is presented with two IBM corporate managers regarding IBM‘s history and current involvement in sustainable global development. This frank interview travels from the roots of the organization through the changing leadership of today, explores dilemmas experienced and lessons learned, and identifies the challenges and successes of one of the largest multi-national corporate entities in the world marketplace
HR Information Systems: Exploiting the Full Potential
[Excerpt] Human resource management has always faced a fundamental paradox: Top managers in any company will readily agree that the people are the keys to success, but few believe they know whether their people are well managed or if they are prepared to fortify and enhance the transformations facing the organization. The information tools applied to the employees of an organization pale by comparison with the tools used to analyze markets, financial resources and production design
FORM Matters: Fast Symbolic Computation under UNIX
We give a brief introduction to FORM, a symbolic programming language for
massive batch operations, designed by J.A.M. Vermaseren. In particular, we
stress various methods to efficiently use FORM under the UNIX operating system.
Several scripts and examples are given, and suggestions on how to use the vim
editor as development platform.Comment: 10 pages, PDF document (PDFLaTeX source available upon request) with
2 JPG figures; submitted to Computers & Mathematics with Application
Probable or Improbable Universe? Correlating Electroweak Vacuum Instability with the Scale of Inflation
Measurements of the Higgs boson and top quark masses indicate that the
Standard Model Higgs potential becomes unstable around
GeV. This instability is cosmologically relevant since quantum fluctuations
during inflation can easily destabilize the electroweak vacuum if the Hubble
parameter during inflation is larger than (as preferred by the
recent BICEP2 measurement). We perform a careful study of the evolution of the
Higgs field during inflation, obtaining different results from those currently
in the literature. We consider both tunneling via a Coleman-de Luccia or
Hawking-Moss instanton, valid when the scale of inflation is below the
instability scale, as well as a statistical treatment via the Fokker-Planck
equation appropriate in the opposite regime. We show that a better
understanding of the post-inflation evolution of the unstable AdS vacuum
regions is crucial for determining the eventual fate of the universe. If these
AdS regions devour all of space, a universe like ours is indeed extremely
unlikely without new physics to stabilize the Higgs potential; however, if
these regions crunch, our universe survives, but inflation must last a few
e-folds longer to compensate for the lost AdS regions. Lastly, we examine the
effects of generic Planck-suppressed corrections to the Higgs potential, which
can be sufficient to stabilize the electroweak vacuum during inflation.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures. Clarifications added. Matches published version
in JHE
- …