Data Placement for Privacy-Aware Applications over Big Data in Hybrid Clouds

Nowadays, a large number of groups choose to deploy their applications to cloud platforms, especially for the big data era. Currently, the hybrid cloud is one of the most popular computing paradigms for holding the privacy-aware applications driven by the requirements of privacy protection and cost saving. However, it is still a challenge to realize data placement considering both the energy consumption in private cloud and the cost for renting the public cloud services. In view of this challenge, a cost and energy aware data placement method, named CEDP, for privacy-aware applications over big data in hybrid cloud is proposed. Technically, formalized analysis of cost, access time, and energy consumption is conducted in the hybrid cloud environment. Then a corresponding data placement method is designed to accomplish the cost saving for renting the public cloud services and energy savings for task execution within the private cloud platforms. Experimental evaluations validate the efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed method

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity

A traffic hotline discovery method over cloud of things using big taxi GPS data

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Traffic hotline discovery is necessary for rational and scientific urban transportation planning in the new living quarters and economic zones. Cloud of Things (CoT) is a newly emerging concept, involving with two advanced technologies, that is, Cloud Computing and Internet of Things (IoT). CoT provides promising opportunities for traffic hotline discovery. However, it is still a challenge to discover the traffic hotlines over CoT. In view of this challenge, a hotline discovery method over CoT by using big taxi GPS data is proposed in this paper. Specifically, a traffic hotline discovery principle is presented to provide a reference standard for the generalized traffic spots that need planning, and a corresponding hotline discovery method is proposed for traffic hotspot identification and hotline selection. To improve the scalability and efficiency of the proposed method in “Big Data” environment, the SAP HANA cloud is applied to implement the proposed method under two application scenarios. Finally, the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is both effective and efficient. Software—Practice and Experience. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Using hierarchical folders and tags for file management

Hierarchical folders have been widely used for managing digital files. A well constructed hierarchical structure can keep files organized. A parent folder can have several subfolders and one subfolder can only reside in one parent folder. Files are stored in folders or subfolders. Files can be found by traversing a given path, going through different levels of folders and subfolders. Folders can be moved, renamed, copied and deleted to serve the needs of the changing working environment. However, previous research has revealed several problems with hierarchical folder structures. One important problem is that users frequently have to turn to desktop search to re-find files. Tagging is the activity of applying users’ own descriptors to digital objects, such as web pages, photos, and documents. Compared with traditional indexing which enforces a controlled vocabulary, tagging systems give users freedom in describing digital resources. We believe that tagging may have the potential to improve information navigation and information organization. This research aimed at exploring the possibility of incorporating tagging into the hierarchical folder structure for file management, especially for the process of file organization and file re-finding.We studied users’ behavior and preference of using three file management structures, a hierarchical folder structure, a tagging structure, and a hybrid structure with both hierarchical folder and tagging functionalities. We found that using tag alone or using folder alone generated similar results in file organization time, in file re-finding time and in answer correctness. Combining folders and tags resulted in longer file organization time but no improvement in file re-finding efficiency. The tagging structure required the least number of mouse clicks in the re-finding process among the three structures. The primary contribution of the study is a comparison of three file management structures for better organizing and re-finding files in the desktop environment. Advantages and disadvantages of each structure were revealed from the study. Users’ preference among the three structures was compared. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in the research. This work will provide design implications for future file management tools.Ph.D., Information Science and Technology -- Drexel University, 201

The Quest to End Human Trafficking: An Educational and Practical Guide for Everyone Who Wants to Help Break the Bonds and Assist Survivors

People often assume that only legislators and law enforcement personnel can take meaningful steps to fight human trafficking, one of the most lucrative transnational crimes in the world. This inquiry sought to assess the validity of that belief. The study was informed by the author’s experience as a college instructor of human trafficking and the inspiration he drew from the range and quality of his students’ projects. The methodology included examining the strategies that governmental and non-governmental organizations are using to fight trafficking and assist survivors. It also considered the work of individual activists and service providers such as social workers and health/mental health professionals. Business allies selected for review included convenience store managers and those in the lodging, tourism, airline, and transportation industries. Community influencers such as public officials, members of the press, spiritual leaders, and college instructors were studied as well. The research demonstrated that each group is making a valuable contribution. The analysis first summarizes major concepts and laws that every antitrafficking activist needs to know. The author then organized the insights and lessons learned into five types of activities: Awareness, political advocacy, prevention, reducing demand (shopping wisely), and survivor intervention/aftercare. A separate discussion focused on ideas for student service projects, internships, and relevant career opportunities. The concluding chapters offer an easy-to-follow game plan for anyone interested in joining the cause. Altogether, the Guide has more than 1,100 hyperlinks to articles and free resources that advocates can use to pursue their personal antitrafficking interests and priorities

The making of smart cities : borders, security and value in New Town Kolkata and Cape Town

The making of smart cities transforms not only infrastructures and practices but also the techniques of urban government and security, and economic processes. This thesis draws on analysis conducted in two research sites: Cape Town, in South Africa and New Town Rajarhat, a satellite township on the outskirts of Kolkata, to present three key arguments. Firstly, and as opposed to mainstream narratives that describe smart cities as seamlessly connected environments, this thesis suggests that urban digitalisation is linked to bordering processes. Whereas critical literature has comprehensively discussed the political implications and risks associated with smart city projects, such as corporatisation and technocratic governance, the specific relations between digital infrastructures and borders, within the urban space, have not yet been discussed. Secondly, this thesis argues that smart cities are inherently security projects, insofar as the deployment of a computing infrastructure of sensing initiates a preemptive apparatus. In security systems, such as the Emergency Policing and Incident Command (EPIC) program in Cape Town, or the Xpresso software for social media monitoring in New Town, algorithms are continuously modelling and acting upon future scenarios; from traffic jams to wildfires, from crime hotspots to citizens’ moods. My third argument is that the computing apparatus of security also serves as an infrastructure of value extraction. Recently, there has been much theorising and debate about security platforms’ economic operations, but the situated modalities in which they extract value from the urban environment remain to be examined. Overall, this thesis points to the socio-spatial, governmental and economic relations that computing infrastructures are generating, or reconfiguring, in the urban environment. These relations articulate distinct processes, including the hierarchisation and control of the urban space, preemptive policies and extractive strategies. Critically analysing these processes allows the registration of the political implications of smart city projects