Skip to main content



Robotic Ants and Social Networks

http://www.bbc.com/news/21956795 There is a huge buzz recently on developments with artificial intelligence and modeling social behaviors in machines. The video in the BBC article demonstrates the functioning of a small “robotic ant” that simulates social behavior in the context of colony-following in ants in nature. The way these robots work is that they are programmed […]

The Prisoner’s Dilemma and Bonus Points on a Test

https://theconversation.com/how-understanding-the-prisoners-dilemma-can-help-bridge-liberal-and-conservative-differences-46166 According to this article, a professor at the University of Maryland gave his students the choice to have either two points or six points added on to their final grade, with the catch that if more than %10 of the class chooses six points, then no one gets any points. The professor notes in […]

Game Theory and the Ukraine Crisis

Article: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-12/gaming-the-ukraine-crisis Game Theory and the Ukraine Crisis What can game theory tell us about the crisis between Russia and the Ukraine?  Professors of Economics Richard Ericson and Lester Zeagler have published a scholarly article attempting to use game theory modeling to predict the possible outcomes of the situation in the Ukraine.  Giving each side […]

Game Theory in Nadal-Federer Rivalry

The rivalry between tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer has been regarded as the greatest sport rivalry of our generation. Nadal, being a left-handed player, can more effortlessly serve and rally to the back-hand side of right-handed players like Federer. Since most male tennis players’ backhand skill is weaker than that of their forehand, […]

STRUCTURAL BALANCE IN BROADCAST MARKET

As of September 8th, Media General Inc. and Meredith Corp. will merge into one massive company: Meredith Media General. Media General Inc. purchased Meredith Corp. for roughly $2.4 billion, as a means of gaining “leverage in negotiations with pay-TV providers.” These two companies were previously rivals who handled local branches of major broadcast networks such […]

Game-Theoretical Study of Trade and Military Alliances

Establishing and maintaining peaceful relations with other countries is usually one of the primary goals in international politics. Until recently, historians believed that many conflicts were caused by specific events in past, but now there is growing consensus that the environment created by the complex interactions, alliances, and trade agreements between nations could play a […]

Networks in Europa Universalis IV

http://www.eu4wiki.com/Diplomacy The video game Europa Universalis IV aims to allow the player to create an alternate history starting in 1444 and ending in 1821. The player guides a country through this 400 year period, along the way making decisions such as which other nations to ally or attack, where to colonize, and how to develop […]

Analyzing Your Friend Network

As we have been discussing in lecture, creating networks based on data generated from social networking sites and analyzing them is hugely important for the growth, development, and improvement of these sites. It allows engineers and consultants to look at their systems in an objective way and hypothesize possible improvements. However, at the same time […]

It’s a Small World After All

http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/061698sci-smallworld.html   “It’s a small world” is much more than just a cute little jingle that enters the ears of people along a never-ending loop of song and country in the classic ol’ park of Disney World, but it does have some interesting applications to the real world. I can’t tell you how many times […]

Social Capital and Social Networking

As social networking sites become a part of our daily lives, it is sometimes hard to determine if the amount of time we spend online is hurting our social interactions or helping them. This study looked to determine the impact that Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking site, has on one’s social capital. As […]

« go backkeep looking »

Blogging Calendar

September 2015
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  

Archives