Local Ranking Problem on the BrowseGraph

The "Local Ranking Problem" (LRP) is related to the computation of a centrality-like rank on a local graph, where the scores of the nodes could significantly differ from the ones computed on the global graph. Previous work has studied LRP on the hyperlink graph but never on the BrowseGraph, namely a graph where nodes are webpages and edges are browsing transitions. Recently, this graph has received more and more attention in many different tasks such as ranking, prediction and recommendation. However, a web-server has only the browsing traffic performed on its pages (local BrowseGraph) and, as a consequence, the local computation can lead to estimation errors, which hinders the increasing number of applications in the state of the art. Also, although the divergence between the local and global ranks has been measured, the possibility of estimating such divergence using only local knowledge has been mainly overlooked. These aspects are of great interest for online service providers who want to: (i) gauge their ability to correctly assess the importance of their resources only based on their local knowledge, and (ii) take into account real user browsing fluxes that better capture the actual user interest than the static hyperlink network. We study the LRP problem on a BrowseGraph from a large news provider, considering as subgraphs the aggregations of browsing traces of users coming from different domains. We show that the distance between rankings can be accurately predicted based only on structural information of the local graph, being able to achieve an average rank correlation as high as 0.8

History's Future in the North End

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110960/1/history_s_future_in_the_north_endred.pd

Localizing the media, locating ourselves: a critical comparative analysis of socio-spatial sorting in locative media platforms (Google AND Flickr 2009-2011)

In this thesis I explore media geocoding (i.e., geotagging or georeferencing), the process of inscribing the media with geographic information. A process that enables distinct forms of producing, storing, and distributing information based on location. Historically, geographic information technologies have served a biopolitical function producing knowledge of populations. In their current guise as locative media platforms, these systems build rich databases of places facilitated by user-generated geocoded media. These geoindexes render places, and users of these services, this thesis argues, subject to novel forms of computational modelling and economic capture. Thus, the possibility of tying information, people and objects to location sets the conditions to the emergence of new communicative practices as well as new forms of governmentality (management of populations). This project is an attempt to develop an understanding of the socio-economic forces and media regimes structuring contemporary forms of location-aware communication, by carrying out a comparative analysis of two of the main current location-enabled platforms: Google and Flickr. Drawing from the medium-specific approach to media analysis characteristic of the subfield of Software Studies, together with the methodological apparatus of Cultural Analytics (data mining and visualization methods), the thesis focuses on examining how social space is coded and computed in these systems. In particular, it looks at the databases’ underlying ontologies supporting the platforms' geocoding capabilities and their respective algorithmic logics. In the final analysis the thesis argues that the way social space is translated in the form of POIs (Points of Interest) and business-biased categorizations, as well as the geodemographical ordering underpinning the way it is computed, are pivotal if we were to understand what kind of socio-spatial relations are actualized in these systems, and what modalities of governing urban mobility are enabled

Multi-objective Search-based Mobile Testing

Despite the tremendous popularity of mobile applications, mobile testing still relies heavily on manual testing. This thesis presents mobile test automation approaches based on multi-objective search. We introduce three approaches: Sapienz (for native Android app testing), Octopuz (for hybrid/web JavaScript app testing) and Polariz (for using crowdsourcing to support search-based mobile testing). These three approaches represent the primary scientific and technical contributions of the thesis. Since crowdsourcing is, itself, an emerging research area, and less well understood than search-based software engineering, the thesis also provides the first comprehensive survey on the use of crowdsourcing in software testing (in particular) and in software engineering (more generally). This survey represents a secondary contribution. Sapienz is an approach to Android testing that uses multi-objective search-based testing to automatically explore and optimise test sequences, minimising their length, while simultaneously maximising their coverage and fault revelation. The results of empirical studies demonstrate that Sapienz significantly outperforms both the state-of-the-art technique Dynodroid and the widely-used tool, Android Monkey, on all three objectives. When applied to the top 1,000 Google Play apps, Sapienz found 558 unique, previously unknown crashes. Octopuz reuses the Sapienz multi-objective search approach for automated JavaScript testing, aiming to investigate whether it replicates the Sapienz’ success on JavaScript testing. Experimental results on 10 real-world JavaScript apps provide evidence that Octopuz significantly outperforms the state of the art (and current state of practice) in automated JavaScript testing. Polariz is an approach that combines human (crowd) intelligence with machine (computational search) intelligence for mobile testing. It uses a platform that enables crowdsourced mobile testing from any source of app, via any terminal client, and by any crowd of workers. It generates replicable test scripts based on manual test traces produced by the crowd workforce, and automatically extracts from these test traces, motif events that can be used to improve search-based mobile testing approaches such as Sapienz

Leveraging Browsing Patterns for Topic Discovery and Photostream Recommendation

In photo-sharing websites and in social networks, photographs are most often browsed as a sequence: users who view a photo are likely to click on those that follow. The sequences of photos (which we call photostreams), as opposed to individual images, can therefore be considered to be very important content units in their own right. In spite of their importance, those sequences have received little attention even though they are at the core of how people consume image content. In this paper, we focus on photostreams. First, we perform an analysis of a large dataset of user logs containing over 100 million pageviews, examining navigation patterns between photostreams. Based on observations from the analysis, we build a stream transition graph to analyze common stream topic transitions (e.g., users often view “train” photostreams followed by “firetruck” photostreams). We then implement two stream recommendation algorithms, based on collaborative filtering and on photo tags, and report the results of a user study involving 40 participants. Our analysis yields interesting insights into how people navigate between photostreams, while the results of the user study provide useful feedback for evaluating the performance and characteristics of the recommendation algorithms

The Digital Classicist 2013

This edited volume collects together peer-reviewed papers that initially emanated from presentations at Digital Classicist seminars and conference panels. This wide-ranging volume showcases exemplary applications of digital scholarship to the ancient world and critically examines the many challenges and opportunities afforded by such research. The chapters included here demonstrate innovative approaches that drive forward the research interests of both humanists and technologists while showing that rigorous scholarship is as central to digital research as it is to mainstream classical studies. As with the earlier Digital Classicist publications, our aim is not to give a broad overview of the field of digital classics; rather, we present here a snapshot of some of the varied research of our members in order to engage with and contribute to the development of scholarship both in the fields of classical antiquity and Digital Humanities more broadly

The Digital Classicist 2013

This edited volume collects together peer-reviewed papers that initially emanated from presentations at Digital Classicist seminars and conference panels. This wide-ranging volume showcases exemplary applications of digital scholarship to the ancient world and critically examines the many challenges and opportunities afforded by such research. The chapters included here demonstrate innovative approaches that drive forward the research interests of both humanists and technologists while showing that rigorous scholarship is as central to digital research as it is to mainstream classical studies. As with the earlier Digital Classicist publications, our aim is not to give a broad overview of the field of digital classics; rather, we present here a snapshot of some of the varied research of our members in order to engage with and contribute to the development of scholarship both in the fields of classical antiquity and Digital Humanities more broadly

Towards the two-way symmetrical communication model: the use of social media to create dialogue around brands

Social media has radically altered today's media landscape, and presents public relations practitioners with new possibilities and opportunities to promote their companies. Social media enables public relations to observe in order to find out what people need; what content they are looking for; and how your company can help them. However, will engaging in online conversations give an organisation‘s consumers a voice? Past PR models illustrate how methods of communication was established and used in the past. However, the Grunig and Hunt two-way symmetrical model creates the possibility of two-way communication (dialogue) between consumer and organisation in which the power relations are equal. By applying Web 2.0 (social media) to these models, one can explore new ways of two-way communication. Finally by applying these elements to each other, a case study can be created to prove if social media can be used to create a dialogue between consumer and organization

Constructing crime online : representations of violent crime, perpetrators and victims on a South African news aggregator : News24.

M. App. Soc. Sc. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2014.This study explores the representation of violent crime on an online news environment. The involvement of moral entrepreneurs within the news media in combating crime is also investigated. News media is the main source of information for national and international events. Policies tend to be influenced by what the media report on, so research into the new online platform of news production is important. The research design took on an interpretive paradigm, leading to a qualitative method of research. Discourse and linguistic analysis was used for the interpretation of the data collected from an online news aggregator News24. The data was in the form of online news articles. The literature showed that the commercial motives of news agencies outweigh the information providing services thereof. Profit is guaranteed by focusing on heinous crimes that are sensationalised. Results show the interplay between moral entrepreneurs and news media as unexplored in South Africa, hence the lack of inclusion criminal justice system agencies in news articles except when the journalist is furthering commercial agendas. Victims and perpetrators were clearly stereotyped, more so perpetrators who were portrayed as inherently evil and seeking to only to do harm to moral members of society. Law enforcement and the media can coexist while serving two similar yet different tasks. It is recommended that law enforcement agencies help bridge the gap by being more open to the media. Communication needs to be established between law enforcement agents and news agents in order to have a positive influence on crime policies and combat crime more effectively