Baseball Player Acquisition and Game Theory
http://www.businessinsider.com/some-free-agents-lose-money-because-they-are-good-at-baseball-2010-11 There are two ways for baseball teams to pick up additional players. First, there is the draft. It consists primarily of young, new players who have not played professionally but potentially have the skill to succeed in major league baseball. This is a game of sorts for the teams, as the potential payoffs for […]
Twitter as a Business Tool
Link to article: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/technology/twitter-begins-rolling-out-its-web-analytics-tool_586226.html Wednesday, Twitter announced that it is launching a web analytics platform. Twitter Web Analytics will allow site owners to track the amount of traffic received from Twitter, as well as the effectiveness of Tweet Buttons on their website over time. The four main items that companies will be able to track […]
World of Warcraft Useful for more than Entertainment
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33276/gdc_2011_an_epidemiologists_view_.php In 2005, the creators of World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment) introduced a “feature” into their game that would have a lasting impact on the world outside of the virtual one of Warcraft. The developers of the game mistakenly introduced a superbug into their ecosystem that caused everything from mass panic to virtual bioterrorism. In […]
Political Attack Ads and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
Anyone who follows politics can tell you that political campaigns tend to be rather nasty. Candidates run ads attacking their opponents’ policies, pasts, and personal lives, all in the pursuit of winning an election. Many members of the public (and, indeed, the politicians themselves) would likely prefer for campaigns to reintroduce civility and tone down […]
Is Bigger Always Better?
The human species is in a constant state of change. Therefore, the best companies are often those that are dynamic and change with the times. Some companies fade away, some grow larger, and some grow together. It is this latter scenario that I find most intriguing. A failing company will sink, a successful company will […]
How to Improve Facebook
On our first homework assignment, there was a question asking us what information might a social networking site use to recommend new friends to a user. Since coming to Cornell, most of my friend suggestions on Facebook have been other Cornellans even though I usually have more mutual friends with the students from my high […]