Sonic & Think Networks – Noshir Contractor https://nosh.northwestern.edu Advancing the Science of Networks in Communities Mon, 16 Feb 2015 15:55:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Team Captains Let Players Reach Personal Milestones, Even at Expense of Team https://nosh.northwestern.edu/team-captains-let-players-reach-personal-milestones-even-at-expense-of-team/ Mon, 16 Feb 2015 15:55:11 +0000 http://sonicweb.soc.northwestern.edu/?p=9479 A study from Queensland University of Technology in Australia, examining more than 3,000 One-Day International matches from 1971-2014, found that cricket batsmen who were close to reaching personal milestones were less likely to be dismissed by their captain. That is, if a cricket captain is thinking about possibly declaring (ending his team’s batting to avoid a draw if time expires), he may decide to wait a bit more if one of the batsmen is close to a landmark (scoring 50, 100 or 200). For instance, if a batsman has a score of 90, not declaring will provide the chance for this batsman to score a “century,” but also wastes time if his team is sufficiently ahead in runs. This strategy at first sight, seems detrimental to the team because the decision to declare an innings should be entirely determined by the team’s overall score or the field conditions, not by its individual batsmen’s score. However, the authors suggest that this balance by captains could be done as a form of social-exchange, where the captain hopes the risk in allowing a player to reach a strictly personal goal is repaid by a higher level of overall performance by not only that player, but other players in the team who appreciate the captain’s gesture. This research highlights the complexities of how leaders must manage both an individual’s and the team’s goals, and how the two may interact to influence team performance.

Read the full article here: http://phys.org/news/2015-02-reveals-cricket-teams.html

]]> Cuban Youth Build Secret Computer Network Despite Wi-Fi Ban https://nosh.northwestern.edu/cuban-youth-build-secret-computer-network-despite-wi-fi-ban/ Mon, 26 Jan 2015 11:31:18 +0000 http://sonicweb.soc.northwestern.edu/?p=9407 Cuba has been in the headlines recently with the president Obama’s decision to lift the 55-year-long trade embargo on the country.
But what do we know about Cuba’s networks, specifically their online networks? If you thought China had tough internet laws, at least they have the internet. Cuba, on the other hand, bans internet use for all but a few Cubans and “charges nearly a quarter of a month’s salary for an hour online in government-run hotels and Internet centers”. And yet, a small group of primarily young Cubans have created a pseudo-online network consisting of over 9,000 nodes using hidden Wi-Fi hotspots and cables strung across rooftops. The network is essentially a giant “lan party” for young Cubans to chat, play games, and organize events. This presents an opportunity to research one of the few remaining insular networks.

Read more here: http://www.seattlepi.com/business/technology/article/Cuban-youth-build-secret-computer-network-despite-6040159.php#photo-7437801

]]> A*STAR draws on open-source map data to provide a new perspective on disaster relief https://nosh.northwestern.edu/astar-draws-on-open-source-map-data-to-provide-a-new-perspective-on-disaster-relief/ Mon, 26 Jan 2015 11:03:52 +0000 http://sonicweb.soc.northwestern.edu/?p=9413 open-source map data to provide a new perspective on disaster relief

Christopher Monterola of that A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing in Singapore and co-researchers at and The Logistics Institute-Asia Pacific put forth a computer model that predicts the most expedient over-ground routes using real-time data uploaded by agents on the scene. This model allows users to project the “flow of goods and other relief efforts, and quantify the reachability of critical loci within a geographic area”. To create this tool, Moterola’s team “developed a procedure that automatically transforms street maps into a network of nodes (road intersections) and edges (road segments)”. By allowing for continuous updates from crowd-sourced platforms like OpenStreetMap, the model incorporates a flexibility that enables local governments to visualize multiple infrastructure destruction scenarios.

The team achieved this by comparing “two different model networks: a grid lattice common in cities and a ‘scale-free’ road network that represents a mix of urban hubs and rural spokes”. In the resulting paper, Monterola et al. discuss “the inaccuracy of assuming that road networks follow a structure similar to the more commonly studied scale-free, random, and/or grid (regular) network configurations” – contradicting conventional assumptions used in preparedness planning. Hopefully, these findings will help correct the flaws of existing practices that forestall relief to victims (like those of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013) and mitigate the loss of life and property.

News Article:
http://phys.org/news/2014-12-algorithm-automatically-quickest-calamity-affected-sites.html#jCp

Full Article:
http://www.worldscientific.com.turing.library.northwestern.edu/doi/pdf/10.1142/S0129183114500478

]]> Proceedings of IEEE, “The Impact of Changing Technology on Social Networks”, Dec 2014 https://nosh.northwestern.edu/proceedings-of-ieee-the-impact-of-changing-technology-on-social-networks-dec-2014/ Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:39:43 +0000 http://sonicweb.soc.northwestern.edu/?p=9257 Here is the link to the special issue: http://mae.engr.ucdavis.edu/dsouza/Pubs/PIEEE_vol102_12.pdf
________________________________
From: Jemin George
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2015 10:35 AM
To: sonicnorthwestern@gmail.com
Subject: Proceedings of IEEE, “The Impact of Changing Technology on Social Networks”, Dec 2014

This special issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE focuses on how digital technology is changing the structure and dynamics of social networks and the tools we have for studying and designing them. Three main take-home messages:

• Social media, search, and data extraction technologies are not only changing the structure and dynamics of social networks, but are also changing how controllable these systems are.

• Precision, quantitatively justified interventions into behavioral dynamics are increasingly feasible within the digital domain, permitting large-scale experiments on human behavior and social systems. This is useful and presents challenges.

• We understand the relationship between energy and information – how bits get converted to watts – for electrical circuits, but not for social networks. In biology, computational social science, and the science of social engineering, the development of a functional theory of information is a central theoretical challenge that needs to be addressed if these disciplines are to have strong foundations.

]]> Proceedings of IEEE, “The Impact of Changing Technology on Social Networks”, Dec 2014 https://nosh.northwestern.edu/proceedings-of-ieee-the-impact-of-changing-technology-on-social-networks-dec-2014-2/ Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:35:27 +0000 http://sonicweb.soc.northwestern.edu/?p=9256 This special issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE focuses on how digital technology is changing the structure and dynamics of social networks and the tools we have for studying and designing them. Three main take-home messages:

• Social media, search, and data extraction technologies are not only changing the structure and dynamics of social networks, but are also changing how controllable these systems are.

• Precision, quantitatively justified interventions into behavioral dynamics are increasingly feasible within the digital domain, permitting large-scale experiments on human behavior and social systems. This is useful and presents challenges.

• We understand the relationship between energy and information – how bits get converted to watts – for electrical circuits, but not for social networks. In biology, computational social science, and the science of social engineering, the development of a functional theory of information is a central theoretical challenge that needs to be addressed if these disciplines are to have strong foundations.

Read more here: http://mae.engr.ucdavis.edu/dsouza/Pubs/PIEEE_vol102_12.pdf

]]> Why Some High Schools Have More Cliques https://nosh.northwestern.edu/why-some-high-schools-have-more-cliques-2/ Mon, 24 Nov 2014 01:32:52 +0000 http://sonicweb.soc.northwestern.edu/?p=9168
Figure 2. Distribution of a Network Field; Add Health Networks Arranged by Transitivity, Hierarchy, and Size, with Exemplars McFarland, p. 17

Figure 2. Distribution of a Network Field; Add Health Networks Arranged by Transitivity,
Hierarchy, and Size, with Exemplars
(McFarland, p. 17)

McFarland used two different datasets (one looking at classroom level and one looking at school level friendships) to analyze the network ecology of tie formation. His team found that larger school size and greater freedom to choose activities resulted in more homophily, while small school size and a more prescriptive curriculum resulted in greater integration.

However, they point out that student bodies rarely fall into just one camp – instead, both types of systems may exist within the same institution.  Rabinovitz-Stanford explains: “A bigger and more diverse student population may well foster self-segregation, but a smaller and more elite school is almost inherently more segregated in the first place.” In the words of McFarland: “The truth is that we are not sure which kind of adolescent society is best for youth social development…There likely isn’t a simple answer.”

News Article
Full Journal Article

 

]]> Why Some High Schools Have More Cliques https://nosh.northwestern.edu/why-some-high-schools-have-more-cliques/ Mon, 24 Nov 2014 01:32:52 +0000 http://nosh.northwestern.edu/?guid=138741093abcc5c1b7e5e1c39250dacb
Figure 2. Distribution of a Network Field; Add Health Networks Arranged by Transitivity, Hierarchy, and Size, with Exemplars McFarland, p. 17

Figure 2. Distribution of a Network Field; Add Health Networks Arranged by Transitivity,
Hierarchy, and Size, with Exemplars
(McFarland, p. 17)

McFarland used two different datasets (one looking at classroom level and one looking at school level friendships) to analyze the network ecology of tie formation. His team found that larger school size and greater freedom to choose activities resulted in more homophily, while small school size and a more prescriptive curriculum resulted in greater integration.

However, they point out that student bodies rarely fall into just one camp – instead, both types of systems may exist within the same institution.  Rabinovitz-Stanford explains: “A bigger and more diverse student population may well foster self-segregation, but a smaller and more elite school is almost inherently more segregated in the first place.” In the words of McFarland: “The truth is that we are not sure which kind of adolescent society is best for youth social development…There likely isn’t a simple answer.”

News Article
Full Journal Article

 

]]> Computer Model Predicts Where Ebola is Most Likely to Hit Next https://nosh.northwestern.edu/computer-model-predicts-where-ebola-is-most-likely-to-hit-next-2/ Mon, 10 Nov 2014 13:34:51 +0000 http://nosh.northwestern.edu/?guid=78b4125d0370bf0602fe7b7998f7826d EbolaAnimUsing Wolfram technologies, Dr Marco Thiel from Aberdeen University created a computer model to predict which countries are most likely to suffer an Ebola outbreak next.

He said: “The US would be less at risk than the European countries, that is, it would get significant numbers of infected later. All of that seems to be qualitatively quite correct. Australia and Greenland would get the disease very late, or not at all, again in agreement with our model.”

Read more here. For a more in-depth look, see Dr. Thiel’s discussion on the Wolfram forum here.

]]> Trevon Davis is still waiting for you to join Twitter… https://nosh.northwestern.edu/trevon-davis-is-still-waiting-for-you-to-join-twitter/ Fri, 17 Oct 2014 17:46:40 +0000 http://nosh.northwestern.edu/?guid=c4926a301df19334e665474e2f6521e5 Trevon Davis is still waiting for you to join Twitter…

Twitter helps you stay connected with what’s happening right now and with the people and organizations you care about.

Accept invitation

https://twitter.com/i/83b17cd8-f778-4006-b477-073a17d96b5a

]]> Trevon Davis sent you an invitation https://nosh.northwestern.edu/trevon-davis-sent-you-an-invitation-2/ Mon, 13 Oct 2014 04:04:59 +0000 http://nosh.northwestern.edu/?guid=1d133b4d1a0945756b9f9e6f156847bd Trevon Davis sent you an invitation
Twitter helps you stay connected with what’s happening right now and with the people and organizations you care about.

Accept invitation

https://twitter.com/i/83b17cd8-f778-4006-b477-073a17d96b5a

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