The Quest for a Killer App for Opportunistic and Delay Tolerant Networks (Invited Paper)

Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) has attracted a lot of attention from the research community in recent years. Much work have been done regarding network architectures and algorithms for routing and forwarding in such networks. At the same time as many show enthusiasm for this exciting new research area there are also many sceptics, who question the usefulness of research in this area. In the past, we have seen other research areas become over-hyped and later die out as there was no killer app for them that made them useful in real scenarios. Real deployments of DTN systems have so far mostly been limited to a few niche scenarios, where they have been done as proof-of-concept field tests in research projects. In this paper, we embark upon a quest to find out what characterizes a potential killer applications for DTNs. Are there applications and situations where DTNs provide services that could not be achieved otherwise, or have potential to do it in a better way than other techniques? Further, we highlight some of the main challenges that needs to be solved to realize these applications and make DTNs a part of the mainstream network landscape

A critical analysis of the X.400 model of message handling systems

The CCITT X.400 model of store and forward Message Handling Systems (MHS) serves as a common basis for the definition of electronic mail services and protocols both within CCITT and ISO. This paper presents an analysis of this model and its related recommendations from two perspectives. First the concepts of service, protocol and interface are discussed together with their application to this model; second the positioning within ISO's reference model for Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) is commented on

The Discourse of Digital Deceptions and ‘419’ Emails

This study applies a computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) to the study of discourse structures and functions of ‘419’ emails – the Nigerian term for online/financial fraud. The hoax mails are in the form of online lottery winning announcements, and email ‘business proposals’ involving money transfers/claims of dormant bank accounts overseas. Data comprise 68 email samples collected from the researcher’s inboxes and colleagues’ and students’ mail boxes between January 2008 and March 2009 in Ota, Nigeria. The study reveals that the writers of the mails apply discourse/pragmatic strategies such as socio-cultural greeting formulas,self-identification, reassurance/confidence building, narrativity and action prompting strategies to sustain the interest of the receivers. The study also shows that this genre of computer-mediated communication (CMC) has become a regular part of our Internet experience, and is not likely to be extinct in the near future as previous studies of email hoaxes have predicted. It is believed that as the global economy witnesses a recession, chances are that more creative and complex ways of combating the situation will arise. Economic hardship has been blamed for fraud/online scams, inadvertently prompting youths to engage in various anti-social activities. K E Y W O R D S : computer-media communication, deceptions, discourse, email, ‘419’, fraud, hoax

STCP: Receiver-agnostic Communication Enabled by Space-Time Cloud Pointers

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Computer Engineering)During the last decade, mobile communication technologies have rapidly evolved and ubiquitous network connectivity is nearly achieved. However, we observe that there are critical situations where none of the existing mobile communication technologies is usable. Such situations are often found when messages need to be delivered to arbitrary persons or devices that are located in a specific space at a specific time. For instance at a disaster scene, current communication methods are incapable of delivering messages of a rescuer to the group of people at a specific area even when their cellular connections are alive because the rescuer cannot specify the receivers of the messages. We name this as receiver-unknown problem and propose a viable solution called SpaceMessaging. SpaceMessaging adopts the idea of Post-it by which we casually deliver our messages to a person who happens to visit a location at a random moment. To enable SpaceMessaging, we realize the concept of posting messages to a space by implementing cloud-pointers at a cloud server to which messages can be posted and from which messages can fetched by arbitrary mobile devices that are located at that space. Our Android-based prototype of SpaceMessaging, which particularly maps a cloud-pointer to a WiFi signal fingerprint captured from mobile devices, demonstrates that it first allows mobile devices to deliver messages to a specific space and to listen to the messages of a specific space in a highly accurate manner (with more than 90% of Recall)

Technology and Caregiving: Emerging Interventions and Directions for Research.

An array of technology-based interventions has increasingly become available to support family caregivers, primarily focusing on health and well-being, social isolation, financial, and psychological support. More recently the emergence of new technologies such as mobile and cloud, robotics, connected sensors, virtual/augmented/mixed reality, voice, and the evermore ubiquitous tools supported by advanced data analytics, coupled with the integration of multiple technologies through platform solutions, have opened a new era of technology-enabled interventions that can empower and support family caregivers. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for identifying and addressing the challenges that may need to be overcome to effectively apply technology-enabled solutions for family caregivers. The paper identifies a number of challenges that either moderate or mediate the full use of technologies for the benefit of caregivers. The challenges include issues related to equity, inclusion, and access; ethical concerns related to privacy and security; political and regulatory factors affecting interoperability and lack of standards; inclusive/human-centric design and issues; and inherent economic and distribution channel difficulties. The paper concludes with a summary of research questions and issues that form a framework for global research priorities

Reinforcing The Status Quo in Organizations Through Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM)

Background: The usage of mobile instant messaging (MIM) applications such as WhatsApp and Telegram in an organization has become increasingly popular. Unfortunately, studies on the phenomenon, especially its impact on organizations, such as power distribution, have been scarce. Thus, this study asks, how does MIM technology affect power distribution in an organization? The objectives are twofold. The first is to determine how the MIM technology altered the distribution of power in an organization. The second is to identify why a collaborative tool intended for social use can have a profound impact on power relations in an organization. Method: This case study involved interviews with twenty-one participants through six group interview sessions. The management selected the participants based on the study requirements. The interview participants were selected from different levels of the organization’s hierarchy that use MIM actively in managing work. Results: The findings suggest that increased use of MIM for many activities, such as delivering instructions and monitoring work progress, has had a profound effect on power distribution. The findings suggest that the implementation of MIM in managing work reinforces the status quo of top management through the congregation of employees, forced commitment, and the illusion of consensus. Conclusions: MIM can reinforce the power of the top management over the rest by extending its reach to all levels in the organization. Findings from this study add to the existing knowledge on the relationship between power and information systems (IS) and power relations and MIM. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol12/iss3/4

Introducing Technology into Partner Services A toolkit for program

The Toolkit for technology-based STD and HIV Partner Services (IPS) serves as a general resource for health departments, community-based organizations (CBOs) and others authorized to provide HIV/STD partner services (PS). It is designed for use with the Internet and other digital technologies, such as mobile phones, computers, and social networking sites, to trace and contact persons potentially exposed to HIV and other STDs. This toolkit updates IPS information found in the 2008 National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) Guidelines for Internet-based Partner Services and is a supplement to the 2008 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Recommendations for Partner Services Programs for HIV Infection, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and Chlamydial Infection.As trends in communication and technology have advanced, the use of current and emerging technologies to reach at-risk individuals has become essential. Individuals for whom there are only virtual identifiers, such as an email address or user name, are unreachable without online search engines, email, access to online communities, and other electronic tools.This toolkit provides information, suggestions, and resources about the various components of an IPS program. It should be useful in planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating a jurisdiction-specific IPS program. It is not intended to be used as a list of \ue2\u20ac\u153required activities\ue2\u20ac? for Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS). The information presented in the toolkit is based on published and unpublished evaluations, program experience, expert opinion, and input from several state health departments and community-based nonprofit organizations.Suggested citation: Kachur, R., Strona, F.V., Kinsey, J. & Collins, D. Introducing Technology into Partner Services: A Toolkit for Programs, Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2015.ips-toolkit-12-28-2015.pd

A mixed methods study on choice of media influence on construction industry communication

This study focuses on the use of different communication media for solving problems in the construction industry. The focus of this research is on design-problems containing spatial information and are informally reported between site supervision and design professionals. Due to the fragmented nature of the construction industry, miscommunication is a well-known and common problem. Yet, this fragmented nature is necessary in order to build a complex product involving many different types of professionals. To better understand the issue, this study uses previous literature, such as those published on media richness theory, problem-solving strategy, and construction specific communications, in a three-phased sequential mixed-methods approach. The phases included an online survey with industry professionals (phase 1), interviews with industry professionals (phase 2), and a quasi-experiment (phase 3). Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed depending on the phase. Results indicate that construction industry communication relies strongly on face-to-face interaction, and telephone and email communications. The need for a `paper trail\u27 is an important factor driving communication patterns. Finally, phase 3 suggested that communication media that allow for immediate feedback and visual cues are more helpful in solving design-problems containing spatial information. Based on these results, guidelines for effective use of different types of media in the construction industry were then developed as a final product of this study. These guidelines seek to improve awareness about the importance of effective communication in the construction industry

Information technologies for libraries and information centres

For the past few years, the tremendous strides taken in the fields of information technologies have changed the society into an information conscious society. There is little doubt that the impact of these technologies on the day-to-day functions of information centres is an everlasting one. The innumerable advances in different fields such as computers, communi- cations, electronic mail, voice mail, teletext, videotext, telefax, videodisc, CD-ROM, electronic publishing, etc have left no area in the library, and information field immune for their application. And many areas still remain undiscovered. This paper, first in a series, makes an attempt to overview the impact of the information technologies on the library and information services. A brief discussion of electronic message and documentdelivery systems,and electronic mail are also presented