U.S. public and private venture capital markets, 1998-2001: A fundamental information analysis

Systematic analysis of U.S. capital markets reveals important empirical facts that analytical modeling or empirical research seeking to explain the 1998-2001 movements needs to recognize. There is no single "bubble point" at which U.S. capital markets had an epiphany that valuations required a sharp downward re-evaluation. Rather, different sectors had different points after which ex post sustained declines occurred. For the NASDAQ/NYSE/AMEX public capital markets, the sustained ex post declines occurred starting in March 2000 for the computer software industry and in September 2000 for the computer hardware industry. Private venture capital investment in new ventures peaked in the March 2000 quarter for software and in the September 2000 quarter for hardware and communications. Four sectors exhibiting extreme price movements are identified - computer hardware, computer software, telecommunications, and biotech/pharmaceuticals. These sectors had observable characteristics prior to 1998 that implied higher risk - they had higher relative risk (CAPM beta), higher standard deviation of security returns, more extreme revenue growth increases (decreases) in the upper (lower) tails, and a higher propensity for negative net income. During the 1998-2001 period, companies in these sectors had abnormally high revenue growth rates. An Internet sample of companies exhibits even higher abnormal revenue growth rates relative to either prior periods or other companies in the 1998-2001 period. The large relative increases and decreases in the market capitalization of U.S. capital markets in 1998-2001 may well have more grounding in risk-reward asset pricing theory than many commentators have recognized.capital markets; stock prices; Internet stocks; stock market bubble;

Navigation and interaction in a real-scale digital mock-up using natural language and user gesture

This paper tries to demonstrate a very new real-scale 3D system and sum up some firsthand and cutting edge results concerning multi-modal navigation and interaction interfaces. This work is part of the CALLISTO-SARI collaborative project. It aims at constructing an immersive room, developing a set of software tools and some navigation/interaction interfaces. Two sets of interfaces will be introduced here: 1) interaction devices, 2) natural language (speech processing) and user gesture. The survey on this system using subjective observation (Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, SSQ) and objective measurements (Center of Gravity, COG) shows that using natural languages and gesture-based interfaces induced less cyber-sickness comparing to device-based interfaces. Therefore, gesture-based is more efficient than device-based interfaces.FUI CALLISTO-SAR

Adoption and motivational factors for online grocery shopping in the UK

Following upon the results of previous qualitative research (Authors, 2005), the objective of this paper is to confirm the role of situational variables in the adoption process of online grocery shopping. Situational variables and life events in particular (e.g. having a baby, health problems) emerge as the trigger for starting online grocery shopping for two clusters. However, the adoption of e-grocery shopping seems to be re-evaluated frequently and consequently post-adoption evaluation appears crucial to the decision of whether to continue with or to drop internet grocery shopping

Finding Common Ground: Interdisciplinary Workshops for Interaction Design Education

Interaction Design is a fast-growing and still evolving field which blurs the boundaries between creative disciplines. Practitioners employ a broad range of approaches and techniques, often working in ad hoc multidisciplinary teams for a given project. In this paper we examine some of the approaches to Interaction Design practice and education, and discuss our experience of running a series of open, interdisciplinary workshops for students and practitioners in Croatia and Slovenia

Making Culture: Locating the Digital Humanities in India

"What is called 'making' in North America and Europe is, frankly, a luxurious pastime of wealthy people who rightly recognize that their lives are less full because they are alienated from material culture [...] All over what is called the Global South there are makers everywhere, only they are not called makers." (Csikszentmihályi, 2012; p9) The context for making in the Global South is obviously different to the West. In this article we aim to explore what critical making in India might mean, and in particular how this debate and the practices around it can contribute to the development of digital humanities, particularly in the heritage/public history sector. We consider two examples in order to demonstrate the role that design might play in helping digital humanities to take account of non-Western contexts. Firstly the Indian practice of jugaad - an indigenous combination of making-do, hacking, and frugal engineering - against the backdrop of making/DIY culture, and how local circumstances might shape intellectual explorations through critical making. Secondly we examine the case study of the design of an "Indian" videogame prototype, Meghdoot, produced as part of the interdisciplinary UnBox festival in New Delhi, 2013, which was used as an exploratory vehicle for what it means to make a culturally-specific digital game in India. We demonstrate how cultural specificity and local context, with its emphasis on making culture - as opposed to localization and globalization - can contribute meaningfully to current understandings of the digital humanities, and extend the conversation to the Global South in an inclusive and relevant manner

A monolithic (Si) massively broadband non-reverberant monopole

Accepted versio