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Hepatitis C in Prisons

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/better-hepatitis-c-treatment-is-costly-for-texas-prisons.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=todayspaper Up to one third of population of Texan inmates could be infected with Hepatitis C. Illegal tattoos that the inmates are an easy way to become infected. The prison population is already prone to Hepatitis C because of their close quarters and “high-risk behavior like intravenous drug use outside of prison.” As the number […]

Apple’s Maps on iOS 6

Apple has released iOS 6, their newest operating system for “i” products. In this release, they decided to use their own implementation of Maps rather than use Google Map as the included navigation app. Because Apple’s Maps application has not been receiving positive review, and it is far less superior to Google Maps right now, […]

NHL Lockout Game Theory

At 12:01am on Sunday morning the NHL began it’s fourth player lockout in 20 years. This lockout as it was for the NFL and the NBA is about the division of money. But the biggest part of the lockout is what do the players do. Since the lockout was announced many players have began signing […]

Split or Steal: An Analysis Using Game Theory

I chanced upon this Youtube video of a British game show called “Golden Balls” in which one of the participants, Nick, played the game in his favour using concepts of game theory.  In particular, he demonstrated a good understanding of the Prisoner’s Dilemma in formulating an unstable but mutually beneficial strategy. In this blog post, […]

Game Theory in Poker- Giving Yourself an Advantage

Although it’s often labeled a game of chance, poker actually consists of a combination of ‘math skills,’ ‘people skills,’ and luck. And while you’d never really think to calculate equity computations while placing a bet, game-theory-based moves can definitely give you an advantage. Analyzing the hands you played after a game, and understanding your payoffs […]

The Dark Side of Networks

In our everyday interactions, it is fairly easy to look at our personal network and determine the positive and negative relationships. For the average person, the negative relations do not have detrimental impacts. Perhaps they stole the other’s date, their favorite sports teams are rivals or they simply do not have compatible personalities. We worry about those […]

Are you being played?

Gamification has become a widespread phenomenon that still continues to grow. According to Duggan, “In simple terms, Gamification means to use game theory or game mechanics in non-game situations to manipulate and reward behavior” and that “Social businesses have long caught on to the psychological mechanics that drive behavior… [since] recognition and feeling accepted within a […]

Using game theory to make sensible decisions in the world of Finance

The game of dollar bill auction was invented by notable game theorist Martin Shubik and explains how a lot of financial decisions today make sense or in some cases do not make sense. Here is how the dollar bill auction works: All the players concerned agree to auction a dollar bill and the bidding takes […]

Deep Space Network Gets a Boost

  Despite the incredible technological advancement that the space age has seen due to NASA’s incredible team of scientists and engineers, our attempts to perform masterful feats in space exploration remains quite feeble. The Voyager 1 launched in 1977 is currently 1.83×1010 km, or 1.95369637 × 10-10 light years, away from the earth. This may seem far at […]

The Advertising Game

We all love the Super Bowl, not only for the football (go Patriots!), but also for those hilarious beer commercials, in which supermodels abound and dogs can be trained to bring you a “cold one”.  But the companies who pay for these Super Bowl advertisements are not here to entertain us.  So why, then, are […]

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