1,065 research outputs found
Zyngaâs FarmVille, social games, and the ethics of big data mining
The increasing necessity of engaging in social interaction through online commercial providers such as Facebook, alongside the ability of providers to extract, aggregate, analyse, and commercialise the data and metadata such activities produce, have attracted considerable attention amongst the media and academic commentators alike. While much of the attention has been focused on the data mining of social networking services such as Facebook, it is equally important to recognise the widespread adoption of large-scale data mining practices in a number of realms, including social games such as the well-known FarmVille and its sequels, created by Zynga. The implicit contract that the public who use these services necessarily engage in requires them to trade information about their friends, their likes, their desires, and their consumption habits in return for their participation in the service. This paper will critically explore the realm of social games utilising Zynga as a central example, with a view to examine the practices, politics, and ethics of data mining and the inherent social media contradiction. In determining whether this contradiction is accidental or purposeful, this paper will ask, in effect, whether Zynga and other big data miners behind social games are entrepreneurial heroes, more sinister FarmVillains, or whether it is possible at all to draw a line between the two? In doing so, Zyngaâs data mining approach and philosophy provide an important indicator about the broader integration of data analytics into a range of everyday activities
Asymptotic Quasinormal Frequencies of Different Spin Fields in Spherically Symmetric Black Holes
We consider the asymptotic quasinormal frequencies of various spin fields in
Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes. In the Schwarzschild case,
the real part of the asymptotic frequency is ln3 for the spin 0 and the spin 2
fields, while for the spin 1/2, the spin 1, and the spin 3/2 fields it is zero.
For the non-extreme charged black holes, the spin 3/2 Rarita-Schwinger field
has the same asymptotic frequency as that of the integral spin fields. However,
the asymptotic frequency of the Dirac field is different, and its real part is
zero. For the extremal case, which is relevant to the supersymmetric
consideration, all the spin fields have the same asymptotic frequency, the real
part of which is zero. For the imaginary parts of the asymptotic frequencies,
it is interesting to see that it has a universal spacing of for all the
spin fields in the single-horizon cases of the Schwarzschild and the extreme
Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes. The implications of these results to the
universality of the asymptotic quasinormal frequencies are discussed.Comment: Revtex, 17 pages, 3 eps figures; one table, some remarks and
references added to section I
Electroconvulsive therapy mediates neuroplasticity of white matter microstructure in major depression.
Whether plasticity of white matter (WM) microstructure relates to therapeutic response in major depressive disorder (MDD) remains uncertain. We examined diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) correlates of WM structural connectivity in patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a rapidly acting treatment for severe MDD. Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) applied to DTI data (61 directions, 2.5 mm(3) voxel size) targeted voxel-level changes in fractional anisotropy (FA), and radial (RD), axial (AD) and mean diffusivity (MD) in major WM pathways in MDD patients (n=20, mean age: 41.15 years, 10.32 s.d.) scanned before ECT, after their second ECT and at transition to maintenance therapy. Comparisons made at baseline with demographically similar controls (n=28, mean age: 39.42 years, 12.20 s.d.) established effects of diagnosis. Controls were imaged twice to estimate scanning-related variance. Patients showed significant increases of FA in dorsal fronto-limbic circuits encompassing the anterior cingulum, forceps minor and left superior longitudinal fasciculus between baseline and transition to maintenance therapy (P<0.05, corrected). Decreases in RD and MD were observed in overlapping regions and the anterior thalamic radiation (P<0.05, corrected). Changes in DTI metrics associated with therapeutic response in tracts showing significant ECT effects differed between patients and controls. All measures remained stable across time in controls. Altered WM microstructure in pathways connecting frontal and limbic areas occur in MDD, are modulated by ECT and relate to therapeutic response. Increased FA together with decreased MD and RD, which trend towards normative values with treatment, suggest increased fiber integrity in dorsal fronto-limbic pathways involved in mood regulation
Quasinormal Modes of Dirty Black Holes
Quasinormal mode (QNM) gravitational radiation from black holes is expected
to be observed in a few years. A perturbative formula is derived for the shifts
in both the real and the imaginary part of the QNM frequencies away from those
of an idealized isolated black hole. The formulation provides a tool for
understanding how the astrophysical environment surrounding a black hole, e.g.,
a massive accretion disk, affects the QNM spectrum of gravitational waves. We
show, in a simple model, that the perturbed QNM spectrum can have interesting
features.Comment: 4 pages. Published in PR
On vacuum gravitational collapse in nine dimensions
We consider the vacuum gravitational collapse for cohomogeneity-two solutions
of the nine dimensional Einstein equations. Using combined numerical and
analytical methods we give evidence that within this model the
Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole is asymptotically stable. In addition, we
briefly discuss the critical behavior at the threshold of black hole formation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Pragmatic engagement in a low trust supply chain: Beef farmersâ perceptions of power, trust and agency
The academic discussion of power in supply chains has changed from a discussion of the use of coercive power to one which emphasizes the role of trust in embedding co-operation and disincentivizing opportunism. Whilst a number of empirical studies have suggested the former is alive and well, this paper argues that power relations may also be constituted by the self-perceptions of weaker actors as much as by the explicit actions of more powerful ones. This study explores the role of power through the perceptions of subjugated actors, which set the ârules of the gameâ. Our case centres on perceptions of Northern Irish beef farmers and their reflections on their âpowerlessnessâ in relation to the larger, more consolidated processors that they sell to. We find that the way farmers make sense of the power relations they encounter is influenced by the individuating character of the power relations exercised by the processors, which debilitates their ability to collaborate and resist collectively. What emerges is a story about the process of accommodation whereby farmers pragmatically resign themselves to play by âthe rules of the gameâ to remain âpart of the gameâ
Daylight Analysis with Microcomputers for School Buildings in a Hot, Humid Climate
Daylighting and other passive energy technologies
are critical issues that should be considered in the
early stages of building planning and architectural
design. Both new design and retrofit of existing
buildings benefit greatly by use of microcomputer-generated
models, especially as they relate to
building studies in zones of extreme climate. The
hot, humid environment of Louisiana poses unique
problems and calls for creative solutions.
The use of microcomputers as analytical tools to
develop suggestions for optimizing the amount of
energy consumed for lighting and climatic comfort is
illustrated. The effective use of daylighting can,
as might be expected, produce net energy savings in
most school buildings
Perturbative Approach to the Quasinormal Modes of Dirty Black Holes
Using a recently developed perturbation theory for uasinormal modes (QNM's),
we evaluate the shifts in the real and imaginary parts of the QNM frequencies
due to a quasi-static perturbation of the black hole spacetime. We show the
perturbed QNM spectrum of a black hole can have interesting features using a
simple model based on the scalar wave equation.Comment: Published in PR
Scalar spheroidal harmonics in five dimensional Kerr-(A)dS
We derive expressions for the general five-dimensional metric for Kerr-(A)dS
black holes. The Klein-Gordon equation is explicitly separated and we show that
the angular part of the wave equation leads to just one spheroidal wave
equation, which is also that for charged five-dimensional Kerr-(A)dS black
holes. We present results for the perturbative expansion of the angular
eigenvalue in powers of the rotation parameters up to 6th order and compare
numerically with the continued fraction method.Comment: 11 pages, two figures, one table; vz. 2: reference added and grammar
correcte
A detailed study of quasinormal frequencies of the Kerr black hole
We compute the quasinormal frequencies of the Kerr black hole using a
continued fraction method. The continued fraction method first proposed by
Leaver is still the only known method stable and accurate for the numerical
determination of the Kerr quasinormal frequencies. We numerically obtain not
only the slowly but also the rapidly damped quasinormal frequencies and analyze
the peculiar behavior of these frequencies at the Kerr limit. We also calculate
the algebraically special frequency first identified by Chandrasekhar and
confirm that it coincide with the quasinormal frequency only at the
Schwarzschild limit.Comment: REVTEX, 15 pages, 7 eps figure
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