White Rabbit : agents intelligents d'analyse de discussion pour la reconnaissance de profils d'usagers compatibles

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

The Caring Personal Agent

Self (1999) argues that the essence of having a computer-based learning system that "cares" about its learners is that the system model its learners so as to be able to adapt to their needs. In this paper we discuss the notion of personal agents who care for their "owners" by representing the owners' interests in the learning system. We contextualise this discussion by showing how such personal agents are used in I-Help, a system that promotes caring and sharing by encouraging learners to help one another. In I-Help, personal agents themselves care for their learners by helping them to discover useful information and/or to find "ready, willing, and able" peer learners who can aid them in overcoming problems

The potential of international cooperation in the Azorean space strategy

Dissertação de Mestrado, Relações Internacionais: O Espaço Euro-Atlântico, 17 de março de 2023, Universidade dos Açores.Esta investigação pretende abordar a essência da cooperação internacional do setor espacial na Região Autónoma dos Açores. O estudo centra-se, por isso, nos impactos que terão na economia, na criação de emprego qualificado, desenvolvimento tecnológico, capacidade geográfica dos Açores e nas problemáticas que a Região enfrentará.ABSTRACT: This investigation aims to study the essence of international cooperation in the space sector in the Autonomous Region of the Azores. The study, therefore, focuses on the resulting impacts on the economy, the creation of qualified employment, technological development, the geographic capacity of the Azores and the problems that the Region will face

Videogame Correlates of Real Life Traits and Characteristics.

This thesis attempts to link real life cognitive traits and demographics with in-game player created data. The first experiment focuses on the nicknames chosen by players and the information one can extract from them. Players with nicknames with negative valence (highly racist or vulgar) tend to report others more and receive more reports from other players themselves when compared to their peers. Additionally, many individuals tend to have their real birthdate appended to their nickname (“Jim1986”). This is the first study that has successfully shown this phenomenon. Additionally, by using the extracted dates I showed that negative interactions tend to diminish as one ages. In my second experiment I linked age with in-game performance, as indicated by rank for the videogame League of Legends (LoL). More specifically, performance in LoL tends to peak in one’s mid to late twenties while performance in first person shooters tends to follow a different pattern with an earlier peak; both seem to have a drop after 28. Moreover, I showed that fluid intelligence, as measured by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, as well as rotational working memory, which is an overlapping construct, are positively correlated with in-game rank suggesting they are the driving force between the age-rank findings. Finally, I examined personality through the HEXACO framework. One of the most consistent findings in personality research is the existence of Neuroticism or Emotionality which is why it was my choice of focus. Individuals scoring highly on Emotionality, which is a trait linked to anxiety and sentimentality, tend to underperform in the competitive ladder. This was replicated with two videogames of different genres: Hearthstone and LoL. This thesis suggests that we can successfully extract meaningful information at a mass level through commercial videogames

The write match: women's rhetorosociality in online dating

In writing studies, when we discuss sexuality in digital environments, we often focus on less-than-conventional arenas such as sex chat environments, pornography sites, or role-playing platforms. These studies often point out how users harness digital rhetoric to transcend their off-line experiences. In contrast, this study, through content analysis and qualitative research guided by actor-network-theory, this dissertation explores women's experience with online dating and demonstrates the interconnectedness of the biosocial and technosocial realms to posit a rhetorosocial realm that acts on human and nonhuman components of a network, and is acted on in turn. In Chapter 1, Researching, I discuss the qualitative methods I used to gather intelligence on how the women who participated in my study used online dating and outline my central concern with the interaction between the rhetorosocial, technosocial and biosocial realms . In Chapter 2, Representing, I explore how the technosociality of the online dating site eHarmony polices user experiences by enforcing rhetorosocial constraints that privilege scientific expertise and romantic master narratives to convert single people into stabilized married couples; I also explore how users resist this policing. Chapter 3, Reading, discusses how users' off-line rhetorosocial expectations and desires are modified and enacted in the technosociality of online dating, with implications for how we understand material expressions of class and sexuality in biosociality. In Chapter 4, Writing, I mine users' self-representations through online dating profiles to demonstrate the operation of rhetorosocial constructions of sexual embodiment and gendered power in technosociality. In Chapter 5, Reflecting, I return to actor-network-theory to frame the rhetorosocial as a factish, real in its fabrication. In the coda, Responding, I transcribe a group discussion amongst women who use online dating so they may speak back to my conclusions

Service-oriented design of environmental information systems

Service-orientation has an increasing impact upon the design process and the architecture of environmental information systems. This thesis specifies the SERVUS design methodology for geospatial applications based upon standards of the Open Geospatial Consortium. SERVUS guides the system architect to rephrase use case requirements as a network of semantically-annotated requested resources and to iteratively match them with offered resources that mirror the capabilities of existing services

Utopic subjects, post-racial desires : mixed-race, intimacy, and the on-line dating experience

Dating, cohabitating, and marriage processes aided by online dating are central topics of interest for researchers interested in modern modes of relationship formation. This qualitative multi-method dissertation intervenes by assessing self-identified mixed-race women’s understandings of race, gender, and class while in the process of dating, providing insight into the experiences that are hidden within analyses of large-scale online dating trends. Through digital ethnography, content analysis of 225 profiles from the online dating website, OkCupid, and 30 in-depth interviews with mixed-race women residing in Texas, this dissertation goes beyond notions of dating and marriage that emphasize a market-based exchange. Instead, it presents the practices used to entice and select potential partners, centering the factors that frame the production and regulation of race within relationships. For mixed-race women who are dating both on- and off-line, appearance and ethnic identity factor in how they are racialized, how they racialize others, and therefore, how racial dynamics play out. Mixed-race women use vetting strategies, the specific ways of listening to, and prompting, potential partners on dates to determine their politics. In particular, women who are mixed with black inquire about current events, referencing mainstream issues related to blackness (e.g. police brutality). Women who have Arab or Middle Eastern backgrounds also try to screen for Islamophobia in these ways. I also present three narrative frames that mixed-race women use to frame racial boundaries in their committed relationships. These women rely on skin color and cultural differences to name what is and is not an interracial relationship; mixed-race women also actively avoid dating certain men who share racial and ethnic characteristics with male members of their families. Ultimately, mixed-race women are concerned with who they choose to date because they view their choices as reflections of how they racially identify themselves. By focusing on how mixed-race women describe and interpret their on- and off-line experiences, this dissertation shows how the logics of colorblindness and anti-blackness extend into everyday life, demonstrating contemporary meanings of race and the post-racial in the United States.Sociolog