A distributed architecture for MMORPG

We present an approach to support Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. Our proposed solution begins by splitting the large virtual world into smaller regions, each region handled by a different server. We present techniques and algorithms that (1) reduce the bandwidth requirements for both game servers and clients, (2) address consistency, hotspot, congestion and server failure problems typically found in MMORPG and (3) allow seamless interaction be-tween players residing on areas handled by different servers. By implementing a simple game, Kosmos, we show the appli-cability of our approach as well as the relative performance benefits of designing new games using our architecture

What determines technology diffusion across frontiers? R&D content, human capital and institutions

This paper examines the determinants of international technology diffusion across a sample of 127 countries for the period 1961-2011. We measure technology diffusion by the importation of two capital goods categories that embody different R&D content: computers and metalworking machinery. We fi nd that economic institutions and political institutions have a large and significant effect on computer imports (that embody a higher R&D content) but not for less technologically-intensive types of capital goods such as metalworking machinery. The role of institutions is mirrored by that of human capital. Together, these results highlight the role of institutions and human capital in facilitating embodied technology diffusion through capital goods imports, more than mere capital accumulation

Trust in government moderates the association between fear of COVID-19 as well as empathic concern and preventive behaviour

With the COVID-19 pandemic, behavioural scientists aimed to illuminate reasons why people comply with (or not) large-scale cooperative activities. Here we investigated the motives that underlie support for COVID-19 preventive behaviours in a sample of 12,758 individuals from 34 countries. We hypothesized that the associations of empathic prosocial concern and fear of disease with support towards preventive COVID-19 behaviours would be moderated by trust in the government. Results suggest that the association between fear of disease and support for COVID-19 preventive behaviours was strongest when trust in the government was weak (both at individual- and country-level). Conversely, the association with empathic prosocial concern was strongest when trust in the government was high, but this moderation was only found at individual-level scores of governmental trust. We discuss how motivations may be shaped by socio-cultural context, and outline how findings may contribute to a better understanding of collective action during global crises