The Physical Web Project
As the popularity of internet-connected gadgetry and everyday items increases, a future where all objects and people are able to directly interact through the internet seems to be coming closer to reality. Researchers and tech companies have called this scenario the Internet of Things. A “Thing” in the Internet of Things is anything that has […]
Identifying Online Fraud Using Networks
Lyft and Uber, the two big names in car sharing software, have recently accused each other of sabotage. In particular, Lyft claims it has found several Uber employees ordering many rides from Lyft and canceling the rides at the last minute, costing drivers time and money. For example, “one Lyft passenger, identified by seven different Lyft drivers as an […]
Uncovering a Murder Mystery
In 2000, the Los Angeles Times’s created a Homicide Report making it possible to track the homicides of individuals, represented as nodes, within the county. The interactive map allows users the ability to easily and quickly navigate the area to get an idea of how Los Angeles is segregated in terms of deaths. Not only […]
Stop Irrational Information Cascades
As the information technology grows rapidly, there are more and more information cascades around us. However, I think it’s not very difficult to stop them, just as we mentioned in class “Cascades are fragile”. I recently read an article “Arresting irrational information cascades”, and there are four strategies presented: You can try to apply agreement […]
Facebook Advertising: The Targeted Shotgun Approach
Today it’s safe to say that if you are reading this blog post, you most likely have a Facebook account. If you have checked your news feed recently, you may notice an abundance of advertisements between your friends status updates and photos. In fact, think about your age group, your demographic, your friends, and your […]
Social Media and Political Protest in Romania
From the Babes-Bolyai University in Romania comes a study by Toma Burean and Gabriel Badescu following the change in composition and issues of protestors and among other factors, the role of social media in this change. In contrast to previous years, when small numbers and harsh penalties from authorities characterized Romanian protests, 2012 saw the […]
Finer and Finer Targeted Ads
Facebook has come a long way from simply being an innocent social network. I always knew that Facebook was using my data to pinpoint what adds to show to me, but the extent to which advertisers can select by data is quite frightening. Options available to businesses that advertise with Facebook are publicly available: https://www.facebook.com/business/a/online-sales/ad-targeting-details. Among […]
A Piracy Free Search Engine from Disney
Many companies and organizations that hold original content are not satisfied by current search engine results. Their premier work is often shadowed on Google by links to advertisements, torrents, or wikipedia entries about the subject. Frustrated with these results, Disney took it upon itself to create a new search engine to promote authenticity of search […]
Facebook News Feeds: A Form of Personalized Information
Facebook these days is an interesting combination of social and personal sharing, sponsored links, and other forms of general news. According to this article, “about 30 percent of adults in the United States get their news on Facebook”. However, everyone receives different, personally recommended articles. To me, this screams a variation of advertising based on search […]