65,601 research outputs found
A Thermal Time-Constant Experiment
A simple experiment, well suited for an undergraduate course in mechatronics, is described in which thermal time-constant information is extracted from a heater-blower table-top system. In the experiment, a thermistor measures the temperature of a resistive-heater that is cooled by a blower and a microcontroller is used for data acquisition. The student is asked to determine the thermal time response, and in particular the thermal time-constant of the system, for different blower speeds. The experiment prompts questions about modeling a thermal system, and exposes the student to basic concepts of mechatronics including measurement and data analysis
The Philosopher as Moral Activist: A Call for Ethical Caution in Publication
It is normal to think that philosophersâ first dedication is to the truth. Publishers and writers consider ideas and papers according to criteria such as originality, eloquence, interestingness, soundness, and plausibility. I suggest that moral consequence should play a greater role in our choices to publish when serious harm is at stake. Oneâs credence in a particular idea should be weighed against the potential consequences of the publication of oneâs ideas both if one turns out to be right and if one turns out to be wrong. This activist approach to philosophical writing combines moral concern with epistemic humility
Regulating Habit-Forming Technology
Tech developers, like slot machine designers, strive to maximize the userâs âtime on device.â They do so by designing habit-forming productsâ products that draw consciously on the same behavioral design strategies that the casino industry pioneered. The predictable result is that most tech users spend more time on device than they would like, about five hours of phone time a day, while a substantial minority develop life-changing behavioral problems similar to problem gambling. Other countries have begun to regulate habit-forming tech, and American jurisdictions may soon follow suit. Several state legislatures today are considering bills to regulate âloot boxes,â a highly addictive slot-machine- like mechanic that is common in online video games. The Federal Trade Commission has also announced an investigation into the practice. As public concern mounts, it is surprisingly easy to envision consumer regulation extending beyond video games to other types of apps. Just as tobacco regulations might prohibit brightly colored packaging and fruity flavors, a social media regulation might limit the use of red notification badges or âstreaksâ that reward users for daily use. It is unclear how much of this regulation could survive First Amendment scrutiny; software, unlike other consumer products, is widely understood as a form of protected âexpression.â But it is also unclear whether well-drawn laws to combat compulsive technology use would seriously threaten First Amendment values. At a very low cost to the expressive interests of tech companies, these laws may well enhance the quality and efficacy of online speech by mitigating distraction and promoting deliberation
Defending 'A Conceptual Investigation of Justice'
In this paper, I explain the arguments my critics target and I respond to their criticisms. Some of my replies further expand upon the ideas covered in my bookâ'A Conceptual Investigation of Justice'âand some cover matters that werenât discussed there. This paper thus substantially contributes to the arguments made in my book
Counterfactual Attitudes and the Relational Analysis
In this paper, I raise a problem for standard precisifications of the Relational Analysis of attitude reports. The problem I raise involves counterfactual attitude verbs. such as âwishâ. In short, the trouble is this: there are true attitude reports â S wishes that P â but there is no suitable referent for the term âthat P â. The problematic reports illustrate that the content of a subjectâs wish is intimately related to the content of their beliefs. I capture this fact by moving to a framework in which âwishâ relates subjects to sets of pairs of worlds, or paired propositions, rather thanâas is standardly assumedâsets of worlds. Although other types of counterfactual attitude reports, for example those involving âimagineâ, may be similarly problematic, at this stage it is unclear whether they can be handled the same way
Boys and Girls in No Manâs Land: English Canadian Children and the First World War (Book Review) by Susan R. Fisher
Quantified Boolean Formula Games and Their Complexities
Consider QBF, the Quantified Boolean Formula problem, as a combinatorial game
ruleset. The problem is rephrased as determining the winner of the game where
two opposing players take turns assigning values to boolean variables. In this
paper, three common variations of games are applied to create seven new games:
whether each player is restricted to where they may play, which values they may
set variables to, or the condition they are shooting for at the end of the
game. The complexity for determining which player can win is analyzed for all
games. Of the seven, two are trivially in P and the other five are
PSPACE-complete. These varying properties are common for combinatorial games;
reductions from these five hard games can simplify the process for showing the
PSPACE-hardness of other games.Comment: 14 pages, 0 figures, for Integers 2013 Conference proceeding
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