Engines of Order

Over the last decades, and in particular since the widespread adoption of the Internet, encounters with algorithmic procedures for ‘information retrieval’ – the activity of getting some piece of information out of a col-lection or repository of some kind – have become everyday experiences for most people in large parts of the world

Controlled low-temperature molecular manipulation of sexiphenyl molecules on Ag(111) using scanning tunneling microscopy

A novel scanning tunneling microscope manipulation scheme for a controlled molecular transport of weakly adsorbed molecules is demonstrated. Single sexiphenyl molecules adsorbed on a Ag(111) surface at 6 K are shot towards single silver-atoms by excitation with the tip. To achieve atomically straight shooting paths, an electron resonator consisting of linear standing wave fronts is constructed. The sexiphenyl manipulation signals reveal a pi-ring flipping as the molecule moves from hcp to fcc site. Abinitio calculations show an incorporation of the Ag atom below the center of a pi-ring.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Pratiques informationnelles et analyse des traces numériques : de la représentation à l’intervention

La croissance des espaces numériques et l’infiltration des    NTIC dans un nombre important de pratiques quotidiennes conduisent à la production de toujours plus de traces numériques. Ces traces sont analysées par le marketing et la recherche mais elles servent aussi à filtrer et classer les résultats d’une recherche, les options de navigation proposées ou, sur les sites sociaux, le choix des personnes à rencontrer. Dans ce texte, nous examinons l’analyse des traces numériques comme mode de représentation et outil d’intervention, d’organisation et de gouvernance.The growth of digital spaces and the infiltration of    ICT into a large number of everyday practices lead to an increasing production of digital traces. These traces are being analyzed by marketers and researchers but they are also used to filter and rank search results, possibilities for navigation, and – on social sites – the choice of people to meet. In this text we examine the analysis of digital traces as a mode of representation as well as a tool for intervention, organization, and governance

De la communauté à l’écume : quels concepts de sociabilité pour le « web social » ?

Dans cet article nous proposons un examen du « web social » sous l’angle des rapports entre applications interactives en ligne et formes de sociabilité. Une typologie des systèmes composant le web social est présentée. Nous analysons trois concepts de sociabilité – communauté, réseau et foule – et introduisons un quatrième concept, l’« écume » de Peter Sloterdijk, pour élucider des rapports sociaux éphémères et peu stables qui prolifèrent sur l’internet. Nous montrons comment le triplet écume – bulle – membrane peut rendre compte des nouvelles configurations sociotechniques, caractérisées par un individualisme de masse et oscillant entre relation et isolation.In this paper we propose to examine the « social Web » according to the relations between interactive online applications and forms of sociability. A typology of the systems that make up the social Web is put forward. We analyze three concepts of sociability – community, network, and crowd – and introduce a fourth one, Peter Sloterdijk’s “foam”, to take get grip on the ephemeral and instable relations that proliferate on the Internet. We show how the triplet foam – bubble – membrane can shed light on the new socio-technical configurations, which are characterized by mass-individuality, oscillating between relation and isolation.En este artículo se propone un examen de la “web social” desde el punto de vista de las relaciones entre aplicaciones interactivas en línea y las formas de sociabilidad. Se presenta una tipología de los sistemas que componen la web social. Se analizan tres conceptos de sociabilidad -comunidad, red y muchedumbre- y se introduce un cuarto concepto: la “espuma” de Peter Sloterdijk, para explicar las relaciones sociales efímeras e inestables que proliferan en Internet. También se muestra  cómo la tripleta espuma-burbuja-membrana puede dar cuenta de las nuevas configuraciones sociotechniques, que se caracterizan por un individualismo de masas, que oscila entre aislamiento y relación

Cross-platform verification framework for embedded systems

Many innovations in the automotive sector involve complex electronics and embedded software systems. Testing techniques are one of the key methodologies for detecting faults in such embedded systems.In this paper, a novel cross-platform verification framework including automated test-case generation by model checking is introduced. Comparing the execution behavior of a program instance running on a certain platform to the execution behavior of the same program running on a different platform we denote cross-platform verification. The framework supports various types of coverage criteria. It turned out that end-to-end testing is of high importance due to defects occurring on the actual target platform for the first time.Additionally, formal verification can be applied for checking requirements resulting from the specification using the same model generation mechanism that is used for test data generation. Due to a novel self-assessment mechanism, the confidence into the formal models is increased significantly.We provide a case study for the Motorola embedded controller HCS12 that is heavily used by the automotive industry. We perform structural tests on industrial code patterns using a wide-spread industrial compiler. Using our technique, we found two severe compiler defects that have been corrected in subsequent releases

Portable data exchange for remote-testing frameworks

To communicate between heterogeneous computer systems, mechanisms for data conversion are necessary. In this paper we present a portable, asymmetric data conversion method that is suitable for remote testing frameworks in embedded systems development. The described method takes the resource limitations of embedded systems into account by doing the data conversion at the testing host. The method can be implemented as platform-independent source code and it avoids the need of recompiling the code of a communication partner if the code of the other communication partner is migrated to a different platform

Quae manus eligenda sit ad fetus, post humorum defluxum truncum praevium exhibentis, versionem in pedes quaeritur : dissertatio inauguralis medico-obstetricia

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b2500201~S1*es

Work stream on differentiated treatment:Final report

This report analyses practices of differentiated treatment, whereby a platform applies dissimilar conditions to business users in equivalent situations, and explores the extent to which such practices constitute a potential source of “unfairness” in the relationship between platforms and businesses in the online platform economy. A distinction is made between practices of self-favouring, whereby a platform gives preferential treatment to its own vertically integrated activities over those of rivals, and more general practices of differentiated treatment where one or more business users are treated more favourably than one or more others. The report aims to provide guidance on how to assess the impact of differentiated treatment by online platforms from a technical, economic and legal perspective, and identifies areas requiring further scrutiny because of the especially problematic nature of certain practices implemented by platforms. Special scrutiny seems particularly needed for practices of differentiated treatment by vertically integrated platforms that are dominant or whose consumers single-home and have high switching costs. In these circumstances, the relevant harms can outweigh the efficiencies of differentiated treatment. Another area of attention is differentiated treatment that significantly harms business users and for which the platform does not have a legitimate justification. The extent to which legitimate reasons invoked by a platform can justify harm to businesses is a key issue for future consideration. Significant harm to business users may translate into consumer detriment through less choice and diversity of offerings. Specific future prohibitions of certain problematic practices of differentiated treatment to promote diversity, fairness or equality of opportunities for businesses should be coupled with effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Two areas are of particular concern: 1) the observability of differentiated treatment by platforms arising from techniques such as personalisation and localisation; (2) the availability of effective redress for businesses against the restriction, suspension or termination of service by platforms

Visibility matters: An exploration of YouTube ranking culture

Building on Rieder’s (2015) approach to describe the structure and dynamics of outputs of the YouTube ranking algorithm, this paper seeks to interrogate YouTube’s role in the curation of content and culture production with regards to different socio-cultural issues. By examining over time the ordered videos returned by YouTube when querying “Islam”, “Syria”, “Trump”, “refugees” and “Gamergate” we seek to explore YouTube ranking culture around different issues. First, we describe and compare the outcomes of the algorithmic work, and second we qualitatively analyse the top results over time and for each issue