Making Meaning Happen

What is it for a sound or gesture to have a meaning, and how does it come to have one? In this paper, a range of simulations are used to extend the tradition of theories of meaning as use. The authors work throughout with large spatialized arrays of sessile individuals in an environment of wandering food sources and predators. Individuals gain points by feeding and lose points when they are hit by a predator and are not hiding. They can also make sounds heard by immediate neighbours in the array, and can respond to sounds from immediate neighbours. No inherent meaning for these sounds is built into the simulation; under what circumstances they are sent, if any, and what the response to them is, if any, vary initially with the strategies randomized across the array. These sounds do take on a specific function for communities of individuals, however, with any of three forms of strategy change: direct imitation of strategies of successful neighbours, a localized genetic algorithm in which strategies are ‘crossed’ with those of successful neighbours, and neural net training on the behaviour of successful neighbours. Starting from an array randomized across a large number of strategies, and using any of these modes of strategy change, communities of ‘communicators’ emerge. Within these evolving communities the sounds heard from immediate neighbours, initially arbitrary across the array, come to be used for very specific communicative functions. ‘Communicators’ make a particular sound on feeding and respond to that same sound from neighbours by opening their mouths; they make a different sound when hit with a predator and respond to that sound by hiding. Robustly and persistently, even in simple computer models of communities of self-interested agents, something suggestively like signalling emerges and spreads. Keywords: meaning, communication, genetic algorithms, neural network

Defining, Valuing, and Providing Ecosystem Goods and Services

Ecosystem services are the specific results of ecosystem processes that either directly sustain or enhance human life (as does natural protection from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays) or maintain the quality of ecosystem goods (as water purification maintains the quality of streamflow). "Ecosystem service" has come to represent several related topics ranging from the measurement to the marketing of ecosystem service flows. In this article we examine several of these topics by first clarifying the meaning of "ecosystem service" and then (1) placing ecosystem goods and services within an economic framework, emphasizing the role and limitations of substitutes; (2) summarizing the methods for valuation of ecosystem goods and services; and (3) reviewing the various approaches for their provision and financing.Many ecosystem services and some ecosystem goods are received without monetary payment. The "marketing" of ecosystem goods and services is basically an effort to turn such recipients - those who benefit without ownership- into buyers, thereby providing market signals that serve to help protect valuable goods and services. We review various formal arrangements for making this happen

Pengembangan ekowisata berbasis program interpretasi

Ecotourism is a tourism based on nature and invite the visitors to participate preserving and maintaining nature and culture that have been passed down in this world. To make that thing happen itÂ’s need a support, making the interpretation program will be so helpful to invite the visitors preserving and maintaining. The interpretation program is the program that gives the information and the meaning in it and the experience to make the visitors feels what it feels like. So the mission of this interpretation program is to give the information with meaning so that can educated and can make the thing happen with preserving and maintaining this nature

Researching co-viewing on social media and instant messaging applications: ethics and challenges

This article discusses the ethical concerns and challenges that should be considered while studying the practice of co-viewing on social media and instant messaging applications. Co-viewing practices refer to the intertwined activities that happen while viewers sit together in front of a TV set, watching and making meaning from television content. Connected platforms amplify the possibilities for co-viewing, by allowing people to experience a digital co-presence. Users that engaged in connected co-viewing in unofficial Facebook and WhatsApp groups dedicated to the brazilian telenovela Babilônia (airing in 2015) are used to exemplify the need to establish informed consent and avoid harming the participants when carrying out research online. The research reveals that ethical decision-making with respect to users’ data and viewpoints had to be considered, not only at the beginning stages of research, but assessed and considered throughout each step of the study

THE ANALYSIS OF IMPLICATURE MEANING ON MALANG ONE WAY REGULATION PROTEST 2013

Keywords: Pragmatics, Implicature, Linguistics & Physical context, Social Context Language is used any time by a person in communication process. In fact many people use different ways to express anything in their mind. Implicature is one of the ways by implicating a meaning and producing hidden meaning. Therefore this study has problems which  are : 1. What is the implicated meaning in Malang oneway protest? ; 2. What are the reasons and the purposes of the residents in making the protest?. This study discovers an intended meaning from the protest banners which were collected when Malang One Way regulation 2013 was applied by using Linguistics Context, Physical Context and Social Context.  The writer collected the data by photographing many mounted protest banners in Jl. MT Haryono and Jl. Mayjend Pandjaitan (Betek) and choose some data that contain implicated meaning. In analyzing process, this research using descriptive qualitative method that requires the writer to interpret and then describes the intended meaning behind the data with his background knowledge and the phenomena happen. Furthermore, this study finds out that the data contains implicated meaning and represents residents idea of dissatisfaction to Malang One Way regulation 2013. They tend to implied meaning packed on protest. In this study, the reader will find Linguistic Context, Physical Context, and Social Context theory used by the writer to discover any intended meaning, reason, and purposes.  The writer suggests to the next researcher interested in a similar topic which is implicature to use Relevance Theory from Sperber and Wilson. This theory use background knowledge and context to build an exact meaning on implicature. Thewriter also suggest to use another data in a scope of art such as modern or traditionalsong lyrics, title, or script of drama

Copyright\u27s Race, Gender and Age: A First Quantitative Look at Registrations

On a per capita basis, do African-American authors produce more copyright registrations than non-Hispanic whites? Do men and women show a within-group bias in choosing co-authors? And what decade in the average musician’s life is the most productive? This article provides answers to these questions – which happen to be yes, yes, and the 20s, respectively – and many more by statistically analyzing the 15 million entries that comprise the Copyright Office’s full record of registered works from 1978 through 2012. It provides a variety of perspectives on individuals’ creativity in modern-day America and on the beneficiaries of our copyright system along the axes of race, gender and age. Its findings suggest a need to promote greater diversity and equality in the processes of cultural production and the making of social meaning

Pemaknaan Bong Pay pada Warga Keturunan Tionghoa di Kelurahan Sudiroprajan Surakarta

Chinese culture is one of the oldest in the world. Chinese people have many interesting culture from their ancestor which they keep to preserved until today, and one of it is the making of bong pay. Bong pay is a tomb which a Chinese people called it, is a construction that build on top of the grave give a meaning that somebody has died. For Chinese people, bong pay is not just a sign but also have another hidden symbolic meaning. The purpose of this research is (1) to describe the meaning of Bong Pay to Chinese descendent at Village Sudiroprajan of Surakarta, (2) describe the shift thing of bong pay meaning at present.This research is using a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach to obtain the source of information and data from descendants. The samples that had been taken were 4 people of Chinese descendants from Sudiroprajan village. The sampling technique is using purposive sampling. The data source that being used primary data that included the informant, places and the research location which is Sudiroprajan village. Another research is secondary which is data or records that supporting this research.The results of this research is (1) Chinese descendent people give a meaning to bong pay is a prove of love and respect to ancestor because ancestry is most glorifield in Confucianism, to Christian Chinese descent is a sign that a person has died not forgotten. As symbolic bong pay is describe as prestige ad social status for someone has died, because it's take a lot of money to make it. Bong pay is given meaning as a symbol of identity because it can be identified with culture and tradition of Chinese. (2) there is shifting on the meaning of bong pay at the present. It happen because the changing of the religion from Chinese descendent people. That changing is affecting their behavior and acting on giving the meaning of bong pay. Key world : Bong Pay, Chinese Descendent People, Symboli

Cultivating creative commons: from creative regulation to regulatory commons

This thesis explores and explains the development of the Creative Commons (CC) as an alternative to mainstream copyright protection. it argues that the distinctive characteristics of CC as a license based, configurable form of meta-regulation can be explained by consideration of the disciplinary background of the movement's founder (Lawrence Lessig) and as a consequence of the particular mode of development it undertook (e-mail discussions as commonly used in the arena of software development rather than traditional legal discussion) as well as the influence of a variety of pre-exisiting regulatory forms. The second part of the research reviews the inputs from multiple existing regulatory structures such as the Free Software Foundation and the Open Content movement, and de-constructs the process by which the CC is developed in practice. The thesis analyzes the trajectory of CC from a licensing project to a political project, the structural elements of the CC licences and the decision making process of their creation and development. This analysis helps to explain the apparent inconsistencies that have been expressed about the CC project and shows how Lessig's perspectives on regulation and meaning construction contribute to the empowerment of the creator and the attempt to provide regulatory tools instead of regulatory solutions. The thesis argues that imbalances in the existing Copyright system are symptoms of deeper structural problems of distantiation of the regulated subject from the process of regulation construction. CC therefore becomes an effort to increase access to the regulatory process and as a result ignites the creation of the Commons. instead of the regulation to be enforcing its normative content on the creative practice over the Internet, the CC approach allows the reverse to happen. The intellectual or creative commons are thus achieved as a secondary result of the ability to access the regulatory commons

Easy and Efficient Hyperparameter Optimization to Address Some Artificial Intelligence “ilities”

Artificial Intelligence (AI), has many benefits, including the ability to find complex patterns, automation, and meaning making. Through these benefits, AI has revolutionized image processing among numerous other disciplines. AI further has the potential to revolutionize other domains; however, this will not happen until we can address the “ilities”: repeatability, explain-ability, reliability, use-ability, trust-ability, etc. Notably, many problems with the “ilities” are due to the artistic nature of AI algorithm development, especially hyperparameter determination. AI algorithms are often crafted products with the hyperparameters learned experientially. As such, when applying the same algorithm to new problems, the algorithm may not perform due to inappropriate settings. This research aims to provide a straightforward and reliable approach to automatically determining suitable hyperparameter settings when given an AI algorithm. Results, show reasonable performance is possible and end-to-end examples are given for three deep learning algorithms and three different data problems

ISL Programs and Neo-Colonialism: The Response of One Nicaraguan Village

Over the past five years, through interviews and focus groups, the authors have been exploring the impact of international service learning (ISL) programs on host villages and villagers in the south. While most communities express ongoing interest, this paper focuses on one rural Nicaraguan village that decided to end their long-standing involvement in ISL, citing the North’s persistent lack of sensitivity to the interests and needs of their community. Drawing on Basso (1996) and Gruenwald (2003), we explore the concept of place-making - drawing the individual into a collective story and focusing on discovering social meaning in and though the places they inhabit. We argue that the ISL has the potential to challenge and transform both the visitors and the host community members, but for that to happen the host community must exercise agency with respect to defining the behavioural and learning expectations of their visitors