2,014 research outputs found
Fatalism and Savings
We examine the impact of fatalism, the belief that one has little or no control over future events, on the decision of whether or not to save. We develop a model that predicts that fatalism decreases savings for moderately risk averse individuals, increases savings for highly risk averse individuals, and otherwise has no impact. Furthermore, fatalism decreases effort in learning about savings and investment options. We use data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) and find general support for the theoretical predictions of the model. The results are robust to the inclusion of a number of additional control variables.fatalism, savings, risk aversion
A Real-Time Novelty Detector for a Mobile Robot
Recognising new or unusual features of an environment is an ability which is
potentially very useful to a robot. This paper demonstrates an algorithm which
achieves this task by learning an internal representation of `normality' from
sonar scans taken as a robot explores the environment. This model of the
environment is used to evaluate the novelty of each sonar scan presented to it
with relation to the model. Stimuli which have not been seen before, and
therefore have more novelty, are highlighted by the filter. The filter has the
ability to forget about features which have been learned, so that stimuli which
are seen only rarely recover their response over time. A number of robot
experiments are presented which demonstrate the operation of the filter.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. In Proceedings of EUREL European Advanced
Robotics Systems Masterclass and Conference, 200
Novelty Detection for Robot Neotaxis
The ability of a robot to detect and respond to changes in its environment is
potentially very useful, as it draws attention to new and potentially important
features. We describe an algorithm for learning to filter out previously
experienced stimuli to allow further concentration on novel features. The
algorithm uses a model of habituation, a biological process which causes a
decrement in response with repeated presentation. Experiments with a mobile
robot are presented in which the robot detects the most novel stimulus and
turns towards it (`neotaxis').Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. In Proceedings of the Second International
Conference on Neural Computation, 200
Algorithmic television in the age of large-scale customization
One challenge that Television Studies faces today is how to respond to the rise of an industry increasingly organized by what Antoinette Rouvroy calls “data behavioralism.” The rise of streaming prestige television, exemplified by Netflix, has significant implications within the U.S. screen industry, but the “Netflix effect,” as McDonald and Smith-Rowsey call it, is more than just a change in the industrial mode of production, means of distribution, and method of consumption. The datalogic turn on which Netflixism is based also undermines the theoretical models on which Television Studies was largely built, including theories of representation, visual interpellation and pleasure, and power as “productive.” Hence, the rise of algorithmic television is not simply a new “object” or “wave” for us to study and comment upon; it challenges the mode of knowledge-production (or dispositif) on which the field has grounded itself
The Right Books for the Rights Course—A Review of Four Civil Rights Casebooks
This essay originally started out as a review of Charles Abernathy\u27s casebook, <em>Civil Rights and Constitutional Litigation</em>, which the author was using to teach his "Civil Rights Litigation" course at the University of Baltimore. Since at some point in his career the author has used three of the four major casebooks available to law faculty teaching Civil Rights (the Abernathy casebook, Eisenberg\u27s <em>Civil Rights Legislation</em>, and Low and Jeffries\u27s <em>Civil Rights Actions</em>), he decided to extend this review to all four books. All four are quite good, including the newest, Nahmod, Wells & Eaton\u27s <em>Constitutional Torts</em>. They all differ, however, in coverage and focus, and these differences might lead a professor to choose one or the other, depending on the type of Civil Rights course one wants to teach. The author hopes that this essay may prove helpful to someone choosing a casebook for such a course. This review will first discuss the nature of the Civil Rights course, as the author teaches it and as he believes it is taught at many law schools. Next, this review will compare the general suitability of each of the four texts for various kinds of Civil Rights courses. It then discusses the Abernathy book, examining both its strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the review will describe the advantages offered by each of the other three texts
Conjunctures, Commodities, and Social State Marxism
In their article, “Conjunctures, Commodities, and Social State Marxism,” Stephen Shapiro discusses our current moment as the conjuncture of three temporalities: a secular trend of centrist liberalism, a Kress cycle of managerial capitalism, and three Kondratieff waves. These can be understood by the addition of implied terms in Marx’s advanced discussion of the commodity-form through an approach that Shapiro calls Social State Marxism
The Right Books for the Rights Course—A Review of Four Civil Rights Casebooks
This essay originally started out as a review of Charles Abernathy\u27s casebook, <em>Civil Rights and Constitutional Litigation</em>, which the author was using to teach his "Civil Rights Litigation" course at the University of Baltimore. Since at some point in his career the author has used three of the four major casebooks available to law faculty teaching Civil Rights (the Abernathy casebook, Eisenberg\u27s <em>Civil Rights Legislation</em>, and Low and Jeffries\u27s <em>Civil Rights Actions</em>), he decided to extend this review to all four books. All four are quite good, including the newest, Nahmod, Wells & Eaton\u27s <em>Constitutional Torts</em>. They all differ, however, in coverage and focus, and these differences might lead a professor to choose one or the other, depending on the type of Civil Rights course one wants to teach. The author hopes that this essay may prove helpful to someone choosing a casebook for such a course. This review will first discuss the nature of the Civil Rights course, as the author teaches it and as he believes it is taught at many law schools. Next, this review will compare the general suitability of each of the four texts for various kinds of Civil Rights courses. It then discusses the Abernathy book, examining both its strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the review will describe the advantages offered by each of the other three texts
Liberalism and the early American novel
Literary and cultural studies of the US between the 1780s and 1830s have continually faced a unique burden within the larger domain of American studies, let alone the humanities in general. Within the field, this period has often been the subject of a genteel lack of interest. Even when significant US-based Americanist scholars publish research within the time frame, the organic relation between this study and their larger reputation is often overlooked. The phase also faces categorical and political challenges. The still-dominant designation of “early” (early American Republic, early national, and so on) casts a strong developmental undertow that inevitably presents its cultural production as prefatory, a prelude to more important, or ..
The Propriety of Prospective Relief and Attorney\u27s Fees Awards Against State-Court Judges in Federal Civil Rights Actions
During the past thirty years, the United States Supreme Court has refined a system of immunities for governmental officials when those officials are sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of constitutional rights. The kind of immunity granted varies with the kind of governmental function exercised by the official when committing the alleged constitutional violation. Persons exercising legislative functions are absolutely immune from suit either for damages or for prospective (declaratory or injunctive) relief. Those exercising prosecutorial functions are absolutely immune from damages but may be sued for prospective relief. Those exercising executive functions are granted only a conditional, good-faith immunity from damage awards and also may be sued for prospective relief. While it is settled that those persons exercising judicial functions are entitled to absolute immunity from damage actions, the one piece still missing from this jigsaw puzzle of immunities is whether they may be sued for prospective relief. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether judges acting in their judicial capacity may be sued for declaratory or injunctive relief
- …