Transitivity, the Sorites Paradox, and Similarity-Based Decision-Making

Articl

Micropayments on Polish Internet Market

In this article author aims to give you a brief insight into problem of micropayments. Especially author takes into consideration situation on Polish Internet market. In the article classification of payments on Web is presented. In publication are also presented most popular and most profitable methods of micropayments - for example pre-paid system and Premium SMS (Short Messages System).W artykule tym autor przedstawia problem dokonywania mikropłatności w Internecie. Pod uwagę brana jest głównie sytuacja odzwierciedlająca stan panujący na polskim rynku internetowym. Autor przedstawia klasyfikację różnych rodzajów płatności, w zależności od wysokości kwot wykonywanych operacji. W publikacji zaprezentowano także najpopularniejsze metody mikropłatności - od systemów pre-paid po Premium SMS (Short Messages System).Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej nauk

The Functionality, Interface and Uptake of an energy saving application for mobile devices

Four focus groups involving 18 participants took part in a structured elicitation session in which they gave their views and opinions on the functionality and interface design of a possible energy saving application for mobile devices. A qualitative topical analysis of their discussions indicated a distinct expectation that the application would enable them to save money, and a preference for displaying information in a financial or cost-based format rather than in physical units. Summarising this by time period (especially day), rooms and even devices would be welcomed, as would relating consumption to a personally tailored target or baseline amount, and to normative comparisons (e.g., a typical person / household like you). Comparison of the tariffs of different energy suppliers would be a useful feature to promote initial acquisition of the app. Data entry on first use followed by use of the camera to scan codes would be acceptable. While seen as useful when mentioned, integrating meter-reading functionality into the app was not seen as a key attraction. Provision of basic energy related information for the specific devices owned would be expected by users. Technology permitting, the ability to monitor each device’s usage and to remotely control them would be welcomed – even the ability to turn on a device remotely would allow people to leave it off when away from the home. Alerts should be used with caution: where they are specifically informative and directly help the person reach goals that they recognise as beneficial, they will be acceptable, but they do run the real risk of annoying users. Games might play a useful function for users with children, who might prevent users from deleting the app if the game is attractive to them, but they seem unlikely to be a key attraction. Social networking was seen more as a way of virally spreading uptake of the app and maintaining its use within a community of users than as a way of motivating people to change behaviour. As with use of alerts, the ability to post to networking sites on behalf of users should be treated very cautiously, but allowing people to provide (or pass on) tips to each other might enhance the impact of advice suggested by the app. Any graphical representations should be simple, with complexity presented on demand by the user (‘drilling-down’). There was no consensus on bar or line charts, although dial and rainbow metaphors were well received: optionality would seem to be required here, with users able to select their preferred format. Any use of emoticons should be seen as additional to the main display of information, rather than as the central approach. Physical units such as kWh or joules should be avoided, and consumption expressed in financial terms wherever possible. There was clear awareness of the nature of thermographic images, which suggests that they could play a useful part in communicating consumption, even in simulations. Short-term financial consequences dominated the discussion in all of the groups, but there was a realisation that for some the longer-term environmental benefits of behaviour change might be worth presenting. A jaded awareness of fear-appeal visualisations (e.g., polar bears on melting icebergs) suggests that such negative approaches to the consequences of energy use would have limited effect. Positive consequences were not mentioned often (e.g., ‘saved a child in Tibet’) and might thus have more impact, through being novel and unexpected

Distribution of Value of Time and Ways to Model Value of Time in Long-Range Planning Models

As managed lanes (ML) become more integrated in regional urban networks with existing general purpose (GP) lanes, the distribution of travelers’ value of time (VOT) is becoming more important for transportation planning agencies to quantify in order to accurately predict future travel patterns. Since travelers’ VOT varies depending on a multitude of factors, this study investigates ways that we can determine the VOT distribution of a region from existing travel data as well as effective ways that we can model VOT using traffic assignment algorithms. In networks with available link volumes and toll data on segments where travelers have the option of choosing to stay on the GP lanes or entering a ML facility, a VOT distribution can be inferred assuming that travelers who enter the ML choose to do so based on a certain “threshold” VOT. When modeling these VOT distributions, errors are observed in the traffic assignment results when both the continuous nature of VOT distributions are discretized, and when varying toll values are assumed to be constant. Specifically in the context of TransCAD software, link travel time errors appear to be much less significant than flow errors when tested on a nine node network. Additional experimentation on larger regional networks is needed to verify the significance of these errors and their impact on predicted travel patterns.Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

Solutions for Impact Investors: From Strategy to Implementation

In writing this monograph, our main goal is to provide impact investors with tools to tighten the link between their investment decisions and impact creation. Our intent is threefold: to attract more capital to impact investing; to assist impact investors as they move from organizational change to executing and refining their impact investment decision-making process; and to narrow the gap within foundations between program professionals and investment professionals thereby contributing to a mutual understanding and implementation of a portfolio approach to impact investing.Additionally, we intend to help break down the barriers making it difficult to identify opportunities in impact investing. To this end, we provide examples throughout the monograph and at www.rockpa.org/impactinvesting of impact investment opportunities in most major asset classes.While we understand the important role that impact investors can play in providing financial capital, we also want to acknowledge the wide range of non-financial resources needed to address the world's problems. Our intent with this monograph is not to provide a comprehensive list of investments across asset classes nor any type of investment advice with regard to the selected profiles. We strongly encourage the reader to conduct their own assessment and evaluation for risk and suitability before considering any investment

The strategy of monetary policy

An abstract for this article is not available.Monetary policy