16,162 research outputs found
Techniques for improving reliability of computers
Modular design techniques improve methods of error detection, diagnosis, and recovery. Theoretical computer (MARCS (Modular Architecture for Reliable Computer Systems)) study deals with postulated and modeled technology indigenous to 1975-1980. Study developments are discussed
Interdisciplinary research on the application of ERTS-1 data to the regional land use planning process
The author has identified the following significant results. Although the degree to which ERTS-1 imagery can satisfy regional land use planning data needs is not yet known, it appears to offer means by which the data acquisition process can be immeasurably improved. The initial experiences of an interdisciplinary group attempting to formulate ways of analyzing the effectiveness of ERTS-1 imagery as a base for environmental monitoring and the resolution of regional land allocation problems are documented. Application of imagery to the regional planning process consists of utilizing representative geographical regions within the state of Wisconsin. Because of the need to describe and depict regional resource complexity in an interrelatable state, certain resources within the geographical regions have been inventoried and stored in a two-dimensional computer-based map form. Computer oriented processes were developed to provide for the economical storage, analysis, and spatial display of natural and cultural data for regional land use planning purposes. The authors are optimistic that the imagery will provide revelant data for land use decision making at regional levels
The use of ERTS-1 data for the inventory of critical land resources for regional land use planning
Computer-generated spatial and statistical comparisons of critical land resource data derived from conventional sources, RB-57 photographs, and ERTS images, for an eastern Wisconsin test site, suggest that certain critical land resource data can be mapped from ERTS images on a statewide basis. This paper presents one of the biotic resources, wetlands, as an example of the use of ERTS imagery to inventory land resources
The experience of enchantment in human-computer interaction
Improving user experience is becoming something of a rallying call in human–computer interaction but experience is not a unitary thing. There are varieties of experiences, good and bad, and we need to characterise these varieties if we are to improve user experience. In this paper we argue that enchantment is a useful concept to facilitate closer relationships between people and technology. But enchantment is a complex concept in need of some clarification. So we explore how enchantment has been used in the discussions of technology and examine experiences of film and cell phones to see how enchantment with technology is possible. Based on these cases, we identify the sensibilities that help designers design for enchantment, including the specific sensuousness of a thing, senses of play, paradox and openness, and the potential for transformation. We use these to analyse digital jewellery in order to suggest how it can be made more enchanting. We conclude by relating enchantment to varieties of experience.</p
Buoyancy waves in Pluto's high atmosphere: Implications for stellar occultations
We apply scintillation theory to stellar signal fluctuations in the
high-resolution, high signal/noise, dual-wavelength data from the MMT
observation of the 2007 March 18 occultation of P445.3 by Pluto. A well-defined
high wavenumber cutoff in the fluctuations is consistent with viscous-thermal
dissipation of buoyancy waves (internal gravity waves) in Pluto's high
atmosphere, and provides strong evidence that the underlying density
fluctuations are governed by the gravity-wave dispersion relation.Comment: Accepted 18 June 2009 for publication in Icaru
Counts and Colors of Faint Galaxies in the U and R Bands
Ground-based counts and colors of faint galaxies in the U and R bands in one
field at high Galactic latitude are presented. Integrated over flux, a total of
1.2x10^5 sources per square degree are found to U=25.5 mag and 6.3x10^5 sources
per square degree to R=27 mag, with d log N/dm ~ 0.5 in the U band and d log
N/dm ~ 0.3 in the R band. Consistent with these number-magnitude curves,
sources become bluer with increasing magnitude to median U-R=0.6 mag at 24<U<25
mag and U-R=1.2 mag at 25 < R < 26 mag. Because the Lyman break redshifts into
the U band at z~3, at least 1.2x10^5 sources per square degree must be at
redshifts z<3. Measurable U-band fluxes of 73 percent of the 6.3x10^5 sources
per square degree suggest that the majority of these also lie at z < 3. These
results require an enormous space density of objects in any cosmological model.Comment: 17 pages, MNRAS in pres
Assessing Human Error Against a Benchmark of Perfection
An increasing number of domains are providing us with detailed trace data on
human decisions in settings where we can evaluate the quality of these
decisions via an algorithm. Motivated by this development, an emerging line of
work has begun to consider whether we can characterize and predict the kinds of
decisions where people are likely to make errors.
To investigate what a general framework for human error prediction might look
like, we focus on a model system with a rich history in the behavioral
sciences: the decisions made by chess players as they select moves in a game.
We carry out our analysis at a large scale, employing datasets with several
million recorded games, and using chess tablebases to acquire a form of ground
truth for a subset of chess positions that have been completely solved by
computers but remain challenging even for the best players in the world.
We organize our analysis around three categories of features that we argue
are present in most settings where the analysis of human error is applicable:
the skill of the decision-maker, the time available to make the decision, and
the inherent difficulty of the decision. We identify rich structure in all
three of these categories of features, and find strong evidence that in our
domain, features describing the inherent difficulty of an instance are
significantly more powerful than features based on skill or time.Comment: KDD 2016; 10 page
Policy in Wake of the Incident
The goal of this panel was to examine the policies formed in the wake of the Kepone incident: the environmental laws, the regulations and policies that are designed to safeguard our natural resources to ensure that incidents such as the Kepone incident do not reoccur and if they do, to hold those responsible for environmental damage accountable for their actions
Recommended from our members
Making Sense of Family Deaths in Urban Senegal: Diversities, Contexts, and Comparisons
Despite calls for cross-cultural research, Minority world perspectives still dominate death and bereavement studies, emphasizing individualized emotions and neglecting contextual diversities. In research concerned with contemporary African societies, on the other hand, death and loss are generally subsumed within concerns about AIDS or poverty, with little attention paid to the emotional and personal significance of a death. Here, we draw on interactionist sociology to present major themes from a qualitative study of family deaths in urban Senegal, theoretically framed through the duality of meanings-in-context. Such themes included family and community as support and motivation; religious beliefs and practices as frameworks for solace and (regulatory) meaning; and material circumstances as these are intrinsically bound up with emotions. Although we identify the experience of (embodied, emotional) pain as a common response across Minority and Majority worlds, we also explore significant divergencies, varying according to localized contexts and broader power dynamics
- …