US Military Scientists Solve the Fundamental Problem of Viral Marketing
Viral messages begin life by infecting a few individuals and then start to spread across a network. The most infectious end up contaminating more or less everybody. Just how and why this happens is the subject of much study and debate. Network scientists know that key factors are the rate at which people become infected, the “connectedness” of the network and how the seed group of individuals, who first become infected, are linked to the rest. It is this seed group that fascinates everybody from marketers wanting to sell Viagra to epidemiologists wanting to study the spread of HIV. So a way of finding seed groups in a given social network would surely be a useful trick, not to mention a valuable one. These guys have found a way to identify a seed group that, when infected, can spread a message across an entire network. Their method is relatively straightforward. This process finishes when there is nobody left in the network who has more friends than the threshold. Expect to hear more!
Arduino Laser Engraver
When I originally designed the machine, I only wanted it to engrave regular bitmap picture files. So, I made three separate programs, which when used together, allow normal bitmap pictures to be engraved onto wood. C# Program (Generates "instruction" text file) This accepts a bitmap file and outputs a text file, containing "instruction characters". The bitmap type it accepts is a 24-bit bitmap, with only black and white pixels (no greys / colours). This program works well for smaller images (eg less than 1000 x 700), but gets bogged down with larger images that have lots of burnt pixels (can take over 10 minutes to generate the instruction file). The way that this program scans the image carries over directly to the way the machine engraves the image. Sample Comma Separated Instruction Blocks (to see what the numbers mean, scroll down to the Arduino sketch section): The executable is at the bottom of the page Processing IDE Sketch (Streams instruction data)
TeacherTube - Teach the World
Filter bubble
Intellectual isolation involving search engines The term filter bubble was coined by internet activist Eli Pariser, circa 2010. A filter bubble or ideological frame is a state of intellectual isolation[1] that can result from personalized searches when a website algorithm selectively guesses what information a user would like to see based on information about the user, such as location, past click-behavior, and search history.[2] As a result, users become separated from information that disagrees with their viewpoints, effectively isolating them in their own cultural or ideological bubbles.[3] The choices made by these algorithms are only sometimes transparent.[4] Prime examples include Google Personalized Search results and Facebook's personalized news-stream. Technology such as social media “lets you go off with like-minded people, so you're not mixing and sharing and understanding other points of view ... Concept[edit] Many people are unaware that filter bubbles even exist. [edit]
The Global Brain Institute
The GBI uses scientific methods to better understand the global evolution towards ever-stronger connectivity between people, software and machines. By developing concrete models of this development, we can anticipate both its promises and its perils. That would help us to steer a course towards the best possible outcome for humanity. Objectives (for more details, check our strategic objectives and activities) Assumptions We see people, machines and software systems as agents that communicate via a complex network of communication links. Challenges that cannot be fully resolved by a single agent are propagated to other agents, along the links in the network. The propagation of challenges across the global network is a complex process of self-organization.
Raspberry Pi Multi-Room Audio (Mobile/Tablet/PC Controlled)
I have been lurking on Instructables for a few years but have never posted one myself. Now I have bought a home of my own it's time to undergo some projects and share them with the community. In my first project I'm going to show you how I setup multi-room audio that can be controlled by any device with a web browser or an app on your Android and/or iOS device. I apologise for the lack of/poor quality photos. I have borrowed some of this information and thrown in some things from my own experience. Equipment you will need • Computer (mac/win/linux to act as your Logitech Media Server) • Home network (wireless if you can't run a cable to the Pi) • Raspberry Pi (I've used 1 per room however I will add a multi-DAC tutorial once I complete it myself) • SD card 2GB or larger • AC Adaptor (I used a USB wall charger for mobile phones check here • Micro USB cable • USB wireless adaptor (MAKE SURE IT IS COMPATIBLE OUT OF THE BOX!
School Technology Needs Assessment (STNA) - SERVE Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
BackgroundThe School Technology Needs Assessment (STNA, say "Stenna") was originally developed by SEIR*TEC at SERVE in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's Educational Technology Division, as part of the LANCET project (Looking at North Carolina Educational Technology). The STNA was created to help building-level planners collect and analyze needs data related to implementation of the NC IMPACT technology integration model, as well as other contemporary frameworks for examining technology use in teaching and learning. The STNA is typically accessed through a web address unique to each school, using a free online surveying system provided by SERVE. A summary of the results of a study on STNA is available from SERVE (PDF). A copy of a paper presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association in Baltimore, MD detailing the study is also available. A sample of the online STNA is available for review.
Escape your search engine Filter Bubble!
New research to uncover nuances of networks
Feb. 20, 2013 9:01 a.m. When a species disappears from a region, the rest of the ecosystem may flourish or collapse, depending on the role that species played. When a storm rolls across the coast, the power grid might reconfigure itself quickly or leave cities dark for days. A snowstorm might mean business as usual in a hardy city and a severe food shortage in another, depending on the distribution strategies of residents. Each of these systems is a kind of network, with thousands of members and relationships linking them. Understanding how networks behave is key to ensuring their functioning. With current network theory, scientists can predict a few simple trends, such as which web pages are likely to get more hits over time. A new four-year, $2.9 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is supporting SFI research that will, the researchers hope, propel their understanding of networks to the next level. They have already made progress.
Three Problems Stopping Bezos’ Army Of Amazon Delivery Drones
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos isn’t the only one who wants to take to the skies. Most of Hollywood wants drones for making films, police want them to patrol the skies, the National Guard needs rescue bots, journalists want cheap aerial footage, farmers would love unmanned crop dusters, and every college stoner glued to their couch would trade a vital organ for the Tacocopter. In short, everybody wants drones! Back when Congress used to actually pass laws, they directed the Federal Aviation Administration to figure out how America could safely deal with an estimated 30,000 humming drones by 2020, through the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2012. 1. As cities become increasingly dense, the probability increases of a delivery drone crashing into another and dropping a birthday bowling ball on the windshield of a commuter. MIT researchers suspect there’s a critical speed limit that all flying objects might need to abide by, no matter how good their senses are. 2. 3. I, Drone
