Semantic annotation of digital music

AbstractIn recent times, digital music items on the internet have been evolving in a vast information space where consumers try to find/locate the piece of music of their choice by means of search engines. The current trend of searching for music by means of music consumersʼ keywords/tags is unable to provide satisfactory search results. It is argued that search and retrieval of music can be significantly improved provided end-usersʼ tags are associated with semantic information in terms of acoustic metadata – the latter being easy to extract automatically from digital music items. This paper presents a lightweight ontology that will enable music producers to annotate music against MPEG-7 description (with its acoustic metadata) and the generated annotation may in turn be used to deliver meaningful search results. Several potential multimedia ontologies have been explored and a music annotation ontology, named mpeg-7Music, has been designed so that it can be used as a backbone for annotating music items

Political economy of the ULCRA in Mumbai

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-112).In this thesis, I look at the political economy of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act (ULCRA) in Mumbai, India. Enacted in 1976, the stated aim of this legislation was to prevent speculation in the urban land market, and to make land available for affordable housing. The legislation imposed a "ceiling" on the amount of vacant land individuals could hold in urban areas. During the years it was in effect (1976-2007), almost all excess vacant land in the Mumbai agglomeration was exempted under the Act. Current literature posits that ULCRA failed to achieve its objective because politicians and bureaucrats were self-motivated rent-seekers, who were not interested in socially just redistribution of urban land. In 2007, using a conditional intergovernmental transfer scheme, the Central Government forced the State Government of Maharashtra to repeal ULCRA. I argue that current literature offers at best broad generalizations of the reasons ULCRA failed to achieve its objective in Mumbai. Through an in-depth analysis of the working of ULCRA in Mumbai, I show that it was never implemented as originally intended. Also, I show that ULCRA was frustrated by a number of deficiencies in institutions such as the lack of political will to take proactive action, capacity and cohesiveness in the bureaucracy, and amendments in other enabling statutes, to name a few. Seen from this perspective, it is incorrect to assume, as the current national urban development policy does, that a turn to market-led development in urban land markets will yield better results in delivering affording housing for the urban poor. Further, by analyzing the political economy of ULCRA's repeal, I show that under certain conditions, Central Government intervention may be a necessary step to protect interests of the poor. However, Central Government intervention needs to be designed keeping in mind the "why" and the "how", to ensure that the intervention's does not become dead letter, or redundant. I conclude with the dilemmas development planners are likely to face when designing laws and regulations in developing countries that feature a thinly institutionalized state, and a weak democracy.by Faizan Jawed Siddiqi.M.C.P

Collaboration: Spirit of Supply Chain Management

The paper establishes the necessity for collaboration for effective supply chain management. We briefly explore some enablers and obstacles and propose the basic components of a strategy for enabling and overcoming these obstacles. Supporting technology for collaboration involves Supply Chain Management Software, Enterprise Resource Planning systems as well as the Internet for the communication platform. A brief discussion of the benefits that go beyond the bottom line, including customer demands and personalisation are noted

An Overlay Discovery Algorithm towards a Pure Distributed Communication System

The present paper proposes an architecture for a pure peer-to-peer communication system that is free from centralized coordination and knowledge. To meet this decentralization requirement the current paper focuses on a novel Overlay Discovery Algorithm which allows peers to connect to the network in an efficient and dynamic fashion. The system consists of three core modules which enable peers to meet, organize and communicate respectively. In addition, a series of simulation results is presented as a proof of concept for the Overlay Discovery Algorithm

Stolen citizenship, stolen freedoms

With the rise of capitalism in post-colonial India, initially as a subsidiary part of a mixed economy with the state occupying its ‘commanding heights’, and later, especially after 1991, in the context of a new hegemony of globalised neoliberal capital, it was widely assumed that unfree labour, especially feudal forms of slavery in debt bondage, would vanish into history. This, however, has not happened. Inter-generational bondage to a single household has indeed become rarer. But the spread of capitalism has not created conditions of ‘free’ labour in India; instead pre-capitalist relations of labour unfreedoms continue to persist in abundance in the modified form of neo-bondage. This paper looks closely at one category of Indian workers – namely circular labour migrants – who are particularly susceptible to these forms of neo-slavery.Avec le développement du capitalisme dans l’Inde post-coloniale, considéré à l’origine comme une partie subsidiaire d’une économie mixte dont l’État était censé occuper les « hauts commandements », et plus tard – spécialement après 1991–, dans le contexte de l’hégémonie nouvelle d’un capital néo-libéral globalisé, il était largement admis que le travail non-libre, en particulier les formes féodales de l’esclavage pour dettes appartiendraient à l’histoire. Ce n’est cependant pas arrivé. La dépendance intergénérationelle à une seule famille s’est sensiblement raréfiée. Mais la diffusion du capitalisme n’a pas créé les conditions du travail « libre » en Inde ; au contraire, les relations précapitalistes du travail non-libre ont changé et persistent aujourd’hui sous forme de néo-esclavage ou de néo-dépendance. Cet article examine avec précision une catégorie de travailleurs que l’on nomme les migrants circulaires en Inde, et qui sont particulièrement exposés à ces formes de néo-esclavage.Con el desarrollo del capitalismo en India post-colonial, considerado inicialmente como parte subsidiaria de una economía mixta de la que el Estado tomaría las riendas, y luego –especialmente desde 1991–, en el contexto de la nueva hegemonía de un capital neoliberal globalizado, se consideraba que el trabajo no-libre, en especial las formas feudales de la esclavitud por deudas pasarían a la historia. No fue así. Si bien la dependencia intergeneracional dentro de una misma familia es cada vez menos frecuente, la difusión del capitalismo no ha creado las condiciones del trabajo “libre” en India. Por el contrario, las relaciones pre-capitalistas del trabajo no-libre han dado paso a nuevas formas, sumamente persistentes, de neo-esclavitud y de neo-dependencia. Este artículo examina con precisión una categoría de trabajadores designados, en India, como migrantes circulares, particularmente expuestos a estas formas de neo-esclavitud.Com o desenvolvimento do capitalismo na Índia pós-colonial, primeiro como parte subsidiária de uma economia mista onde o Estado segurava as rédeas da economia e a seguir, sobretudo depois de 1991, com a nova hegemonia do capital neo-liberal globalizado, era geralmente suposto que o trabalho não-livre, e nomeadamente as formas feudais de escravidão por dívidas, sumiriam no passado. Porém, isso não aconteceu. Se bem que a servidão intergeracional numa mesma família tornou-se mais rara, a expansão do capitalismo não criou condições de trabalho « livre » na Índia. Em vez disso, as relações de trabalho não-livre pre-capitalistas persistem largamente como formas modificadas de neo-escravidão e neo-dependência. Este artigo examina mais detidamente uma categoria de trabalhadores, designados como migrantes circulares, particularmente sujeitos a estas formas de neo-escravidão

Analysing how the prosumption of information in social media shapes Wikipedia

This chapter justifies the use of social media as opposed to new or digital media; within social media it argues the case for Wikipedia as an example of e-publishing. Technological, social, economic, and political perspectives on social media are briefly introduced; these are elaborated to uncover how these determinants underpin information production and consumption or more appropriately 'prosumption' in social media. This chapter applies these factors to determine how social media processes and activities as well as arrangements and organisation shape Wikipedia. It concludes that presently Wikipedia is not a commodity though it is not impossible that attempts to sell it as commodity could occur. In terms of prosumption we have shown that production is restricted to a very small minority while consumption is available to many of those with access to the appropriate digital environment. The issue of reliability of its information remains an open question. Its consumption costs are free. However, the volunteering of free labour raises the question of whether this is exploitation of labour. It contends that exploitation of labour cannot be ruled out and should be considered as an example of the way in which the whole of the technological revolution should be seen not as a break from capitalism but as an extension or intensification of late capitalism

Dalits rights, land reform, and the learning of democratic citizenship

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, September, 2020Cataloged from student-submitted PDF of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-214).This dissertation addresses the questions: When, and how, are durable inequalities disrupted and democratic citizenship deepened in societies that are politically committed to liberal democracy but have substantial social inequalities? How do law and social movements influence and shape this process? I develop answers by examining a successful case of land reform in Surendranagar (Gujarat, India), which was the result of socio-legal mobilization spearheaded by a local human rights organization called Navsarjan Trust. My main argument is that by working with Dalits in Surendranagar Navsarjan caseworkers helped articulate and popularize what philosopher Martha Nussbaum has called the "public myth of equality." I develop this main argument by developing responses to four questions.First, what was the role of emotions and reasons in shaping the organizational strategy and praxis of Navsarjan? I show that the robustness of Navsarjan's strategy came from strategic deployment of emotional energy. Second, is the land redistribution implementation better understood as "top-down" or "bottom-up?" By showing how under unanticipated circumstances, Navsarjan partnered with the local bureaucracy, I argue that the implementation process transcends neat categorization into either category. Third, how do constitutional expressive norms--abstract principles that are supposed to order and restrain the state--matter in the shaping Dalit politics? I show that constitutional expressive norms matter fundamentally but contingently.Fourth, was law merely used instrumentally to mount resistance to upper caste oppression or did it also create a "moral deepening" within the Dalit community? I argue that while for many land reform beneficiaries law was a strategic choice, once they expressed loyalty to it, they publicly bound themselves to its moral commitment. This was used strategically and purposively by Navsarjan caseworkers that pressured community members to live up these moral commitments in their social relations. In conclusion, I argue that the project of "realizing dignity" is likely to continue in Surendranagar because Navsarjan's efforts have not only created a narrative of hope in the Dalit community but also helped its members develop the skills, knowledge, and networks that are needed to put rights to work and achieve positive results.by Faizan Jawed Siddiqi.Ph. D.Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Plannin