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Foul Trouble and Game Theory in the NBA

http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2014/05/06/game-theory-tuesdays-why-basketball-coaches-shouldnt-bench-players-in-foul-trouble/   In professional basketball games, the closing minutes of a game are arguably the most important moments in deciding the game, and therefore, any constraint that cripples a team’s hopes of winning in the last few minutes become even more detrimental during the last few minutes than if it occurred in the earlier stages […]

Tech Titans

Article referenced: http://www.wsj.com/articles/giants-tighten-grip-on-internet-economy-1446771732 The attached article discusses the effects a few large, successful companies have on today’s advertising and flow of goods. Examples of such companies include Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Facebook and Google dominate the advertisement industry, of which comprise a huge fraction of their revenue, and Amazon is the largest online retailer right […]

The Network Effects of Divorce

This article looks at the impact of network effects on divorce. The researchers were able to determine that divorce can spread among friends. They found that clusters of divorces can extend to two degrees of separation in the network. Going off of this, they noticed that popular people are less likely to get divorced, divorcees […]

Uber Network Effects

Uber, a popular ride-sharing company, has long dominated the ride-sharing market. Uber is a smartphone app that provides a taxi-like service to easily pick up and pay for a ride to anywhere, so long as Uber is available in your city. Uber’s value relies on network effects, i.e. the benefits that come with a large […]

BlackBerry’s Back

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/BlackBerrys-Priv-Puzzles-the-Tech-World-82721.html Back in 2006, BlackBerry dominated the mobile market with its business first outlook at mobile phones. The unique design, and focus on email made it the device of choice for anyone who needed to be productive on the go. Today, however, you will rarely see somebody using a BlackBerry device. The introduction of the iPhone […]

Doctor-Patient Relationship

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/09/16/how-the-doctor-patient-relationship-has-become-a-prisoners-dilemma/ This article, “How the doctor-patient relationship has become a prisoner’s dilemma”, written by the Washington Post, discusses how the pharmaceutical industry has transformed the relationship between a patient and a doctor into something mirroring the prisoner’s dilemma. A study found that the self-interested choices of the patient and the doctor result in either over-treatment […]

Will Apple Get More Popular?

Apple. It is a word that reminds people either of the fruit or the first U.S. company to be valued over $700 billion. Recently, Apple is rumored to be in talks with banks to set up a virtual money transferring app that is integrated into the phone. This makes sense because of the huge popularity […]

The Herding Effect of Profile Picture Filters

http://observer.com/2015/11/facebook-asks-users-to-support-france-with-profile-picture-filter/ http://observer.com/2015/09/planned-parenthood-wants-you-to-pink-out-your-profile-picture-in-support/   Facebook is largely considered to be the quintessential example of social media and contains one of the largest social networks in the world. It comes as no surprise then that this structure has the potential to trigger trends that are similar to information cascades throughout local areas of this global friendship network. […]

Stocks and Revolutions and Information Cascades, Oh My

This article from The Economist talks about the influence of information cascades on global population behavior. Specifically, it briefly analyzes information cascades relating to stocks and revolutions. For example, the stock price of Netflix at one point became a “freelance entity” without any “corporate fundamentals,” thus becoming an equilibrium-less price value, as when the price […]

Cascading Doping through Athletic Networks

Systematic doping has become a global problem, most notably with the recent Russian track and field team and the international cycling scandals. But doping is not limited to professional athletes with an increasing number of amateurs using controlled substances as well. It is thought that doping initiated in the professional ranks and trickled down to […]

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