tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82777742024-03-13T04:06:31.269-06:00Social Capital in NetworksThis blog focuses on the relationships that connect us together providing potent insights for decision makers. In addition, a few data mining topics are presented.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-56657932137871038702009-10-09T16:59:00.003-06:002009-10-09T18:17:07.530-06:00Variation TestingWhat effect do subtle differences have upon website pages? There is growing interest in this area across a variety of groups. Here is a sample of sites/services that take a stab at it:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.whichtestwon.com/" target="_blank">http://www.whichtestwon.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/websiteoptimizer">http://www.google.com/websiteoptimizer</a><br /><a href="http://www.splittestaccelerator.com/">http://www.splittestaccelerator.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.abtests.com/" target="_blank">http://www.abtests.com</a><br /><br />What do you use to test and measure your page variations and conversion?Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-42051302643190939472009-10-06T09:43:00.002-06:002009-10-06T09:45:24.178-06:00Social Media RevolutionHere is a fun little video that highlights some of the the current trends in the new ways people are communicating...<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sIFYPQjYhv8&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sIFYPQjYhv8&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-35819589759933300762009-10-01T17:32:00.001-06:002009-10-01T17:32:20.109-06:00Gary King<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p>Recommended by Elkan as one who is doing interesting research in Political Science using the latest technology.</p>in reference to: <a href='http://gking.harvard.edu/'>Gary King</a> (<a href='http://www.google.com/sidewiki/entry/smithworx/id/oL2kgBmovoa__Rs6d1a8f8me23g'>view on Google Sidewiki</a>)</div>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-86262384690386475352009-06-24T10:29:00.005-06:002009-06-24T10:51:17.522-06:00Search Engine Optimization<div style="float: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUim8i6IWwOuwkSSRTtwp79AbFNdL4BRYWM4p73vL1hDQweOrlMhBcE8Dtfwyc-77GkaCpfp6AwVEzvx9DQZpP-WbSUQntGgHFaMuI4mhcdmuwuvZqjzzwMijivRl-RFits-3kA/s1600-h/Picture+169.png"><br /></a></div>I read an interesting article this morning about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and keywords from a former classmate Nick on his blog <a href="http://bit.ly/UMRek">Nick's Traffic Tips</a>. For the most part, he explained the standard SEO tactics (and provided some nice case studies and links to go along with it):<blockquote><h3>SEO Checklist</h3><ul><li>Learn the basics of HTML</li><li>Choose your keywords</li><li>Find what other sites are competing for those keywords</li><li>Put keyword phrase in title, h1, and h2 tags<br /></li><li>Include an image on the page with the file name & the alt attribute containing your keyword phrase</li><li>Make sure your keyword phrase is found at the very bottom of your page.</li><li>Embed your keyword phrase throughout your page at a rate of 1% to 2%.</li><li>Have your keyword phrase in domain and in the page’s file name.</li><li>Create your robots.txt file</li></ul></blockquote><br />Additionally, he mentioned the technique of creating content about what you <span style="font-style: italic;">predict</span> will be searched for in the future. Although, this means you need to be a bit of a visionary, it seems like a fun challenge to engage in.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-1313324908720370432009-03-26T13:13:00.006-06:002009-03-26T14:10:04.156-06:00Statistical Design<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.math.niu.edu/%7Erusin/known-math/images/ps.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 178px; height: 193px;" src="http://www.math.niu.edu/%7Erusin/known-math/images/ps.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Here are a few notes on Statistical Design from class today...<br /><br />As you design your study it is important to realize that statistical significance is different than practical significance. Your results can be statistically significant, but not practically important.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Determining the Sample size</span><br />The following four pieces of information are needed to determine the sample size:<br /><ol><li>Acceptable type on error (alpha) - standard value is <span style="font-weight: bold;">.05</span><br /></li><li>Acceptable type two error (beta) - standard value is .2 (power of .8)</li><li>Standard deviation - pooled estimate of the standard deviation (sq. rt. of the error mean squared error), includes block effects and covariates</li><li>Meaningful difference you want to detect</li></ol>There are various "rules of thumb" that can help you figure this out based on having the above information. For instance, the following is a basic formula that could be used:<br /><code></code><pre>n=16/(delta/sigma)^2</pre>where <code>delta</code> is the change in means between the two groups you might be comparing.<br /><br />Here is another rough regression rule of thumb:<br /><code></code><pre>n=15*p</pre>Where <span style="font-style: italic;">p</span> is the number of parameters being used.<br /><br />Finally, here are some steps to cover when designing your statistical experiments.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Steps in Design</span><br /><ul><li>Question of interest</li><li>Score of inference</li><li>Understand the system</li><li>Response</li><li>Other factors</li><li>Planning</li><li>Statistical anaysis</li><li>Sample size</li></ul>The often overlooked considerations are very important as new studies are designed.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-54768731039228037882009-03-24T12:20:00.003-06:002009-03-24T12:29:14.321-06:00Tweeting Blog Posts<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFB_NGi0mGBE8QYgWpH-3UDepC7iio5zKb1aFqFxgFRz3eY12WnSxXCA7M56s63gMNfZ9Mt0gowgRQwZk2WeVd1vdwc9DbCPcAF029gdBgmcnOwm9Bvmo34QQk1LEuj3WbHMZHWg/s1600-h/twitterfeed.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 96px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFB_NGi0mGBE8QYgWpH-3UDepC7iio5zKb1aFqFxgFRz3eY12WnSxXCA7M56s63gMNfZ9Mt0gowgRQwZk2WeVd1vdwc9DbCPcAF029gdBgmcnOwm9Bvmo34QQk1LEuj3WbHMZHWg/s320/twitterfeed.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316821676263798482" /></a><br />I just automated the process of making a tweet on Twitter whenever I make a new post on this blog. I set this up using a free service called TwitterFeed. As a side note, it allows you to do this fo multiple blogs. <div><br /></div><div>If all goes well, then you will see this post (and all future posts) on my Twitter stream: <a href="http://twitter.com/smithworx">@smithworx</a></div>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-3621570145484566092009-03-24T11:30:00.007-06:002009-03-24T11:59:24.937-06:00Things that Make People HappierMartin Seligman spoke at the BYU forum today in the Marriott Center.<img style="float:right; margin:0 0 5px 5px; width: 65px; height: 95px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotM0po8E_-coLWb3QrTKTBTHKCCQOxYT6HN2U1_IgIMAd015gkBwTAak_dzFUy0UxP3evpNzopbljPQKy3w8DevEotS6C3FvbXyV1PbKrlrID0XRRPfJKQipG8mi9AURGGdeIMA/s400/Martin-Seligman-small.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316814847212385730" /> Listening from my office I found it quite interesting and relevant, particularly with the doom and gloom ever present in the news. Here are a few tips that he mentioned (they had be learned primarily through controlled experiments):<br /><ul><li>Write down three things that went well today and why they went well. (After six months on average you will be happier.)<br /></li><li>People that deploy their greatest strengths will be happy.<br /></li><li>"Active Constructive Responding" helps marriages succeed.<br /></li><li>Do something philanthropic and your whole day go better.<br /></li></ul>Finally, he directed everyone to his <a href="http://tr.im/hKrV">Authentic Happiness website</a> for more information on being happy.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-69481335777113892972009-03-23T09:51:00.006-06:002009-03-23T16:26:10.843-06:00Spring Research Conference at BYUHere are the slides form the presentation that I gave at the Spring Research Conference at BYU last weekend.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqLlIgZOeMaYf9J1hL3l232yMxr0MPHYE5jAIUNghO8vO3PQoJQZk0yzyDQwuipoWN5w5S7Lu7yXwXnDsdl3nws1DQcEpbrymKErMHRllUxY5MgYvk__mqQeYbtwhjUiy3vZggg/s1600-h/src09slides.001.png"><img style="float:right; 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margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzTcA2ZLSnx2lbdrpMuNaxA9F9nY57vuNRUDdHzJ2p1AQssJoR9C3b1fkw-xsRPJpt7AxjaxK26DnCq_PqvT6r51_MTnBQHbLGL6DpQQFv8tOHzayp_7ICfcxcWV91eEHnxInow/s400/src09slides.015.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316413278292358418" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jIC7C2wQvP5-iycxrp6vh8w9G0XIhXTRHMIXSsDDvDs1hfzPe2vNeSLXL2-a-yquc-QCIJR3oPYcaCLlUjcH_lGsnPf17ftOKN2b4OMw7wYQRaA3t5Hmi3scL1EqkdYOVmcYXQ/s1600-h/src09slides.016.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jIC7C2wQvP5-iycxrp6vh8w9G0XIhXTRHMIXSsDDvDs1hfzPe2vNeSLXL2-a-yquc-QCIJR3oPYcaCLlUjcH_lGsnPf17ftOKN2b4OMw7wYQRaA3t5Hmi3scL1EqkdYOVmcYXQ/s400/src09slides.016.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316412928885251234" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4wVeJS_UPhn3MLzq-e2t97mTJ_bEpefxSK5_UL-4t-CAsS8V4C6paYyIKKhKgiP8xcNb9-E4vtb3NLAInmtoOAtWQcgeWaQzyzJBWz4Z3wnDjQLPFvo_NfKWnQeNY3bdwkm5vg/s1600-h/src09slides.017.png"><img style="float:right; 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margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaofOo9WtEDBNGZtZxTCAyOsCjiq7iymyN6cAe2SZ8_hO3kIPmgMQ1Elk2ktU75VAbVrC1ra3VnvibdlkD0ELfvUPJiqMjGJEoOAbjN3HxozRsLnt-UchaJ-wSZjjtqGOrtcymQQ/s400/src09slides.019.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316412917709326098" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1cxYlnyGW1cLAdI1GwELjYG06QMOLRsI8N69SPP_ZrPOjfIgT_R6BeBjdX0XfVelZF_D7X29X2Qfo87Vx_YA0W_BzohNWHHRo0IeP7SoWmEFlPRw05ypvd4q1J8G9ZYIfmqdNQ/s1600-h/src09slides.020.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1cxYlnyGW1cLAdI1GwELjYG06QMOLRsI8N69SPP_ZrPOjfIgT_R6BeBjdX0XfVelZF_D7X29X2Qfo87Vx_YA0W_BzohNWHHRo0IeP7SoWmEFlPRw05ypvd4q1J8G9ZYIfmqdNQ/s400/src09slides.020.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316412899427311122" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3U0YPX0XcuyVCx31ax6QkFHcrOmdpvuauYaf7dQxVRhNuix6d0u4s5vx0zMQDt7-2qplG7dfmnXWNMQsF3L__gsI-CYKLPRkroaeRjmQABk_ur72bHeCksrx2CxLrwAKY3RTKOw/s1600-h/src09slides.021.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3U0YPX0XcuyVCx31ax6QkFHcrOmdpvuauYaf7dQxVRhNuix6d0u4s5vx0zMQDt7-2qplG7dfmnXWNMQsF3L__gsI-CYKLPRkroaeRjmQABk_ur72bHeCksrx2CxLrwAKY3RTKOw/s400/src09slides.021.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316412595657232162" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkW3Kk8stQ3Wm45gghm3L2PFGGzHu5_zT_Zp-r8lhbuX1q1g1HfJSP3WXWLp9BkW85vK7ecNc05WFVbo7kKUzuKLy7xq6eOgynsYmNWP1E29X8W8tm9yHFJuFrJRFaAcJCyOUXcw/s1600-h/src09slides.022.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkW3Kk8stQ3Wm45gghm3L2PFGGzHu5_zT_Zp-r8lhbuX1q1g1HfJSP3WXWLp9BkW85vK7ecNc05WFVbo7kKUzuKLy7xq6eOgynsYmNWP1E29X8W8tm9yHFJuFrJRFaAcJCyOUXcw/s400/src09slides.022.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316412592833720962" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtfV57yo1T8-5XYd_hRKIEcy0SlV0aTP5kiZHDKeE7hgMwRNRlCBJ8xHRYGcCKrblsDxZQI2KRjiKkJHYu4CGuzCCB4VJD3aB-ni48vbUnyNnUr_k_KmF4KVxt6sIZemLMbkHEA/s1600-h/src09slides.023.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtfV57yo1T8-5XYd_hRKIEcy0SlV0aTP5kiZHDKeE7hgMwRNRlCBJ8xHRYGcCKrblsDxZQI2KRjiKkJHYu4CGuzCCB4VJD3aB-ni48vbUnyNnUr_k_KmF4KVxt6sIZemLMbkHEA/s400/src09slides.023.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316412586616591634" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GSg0kb2UX9O26Eeh1Vehyev0_YMDW-5Rmc7ss1bn8Rw1SHEtc0KhGdtNV8Bmd5Ik2oobK2R4xH6inXt9sOvJ1LI40vVMZiUGVLqj7BXXc8d2FtpabqE-c3b7oAQYoIxvC78RkA/s1600-h/src09slides.024.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GSg0kb2UX9O26Eeh1Vehyev0_YMDW-5Rmc7ss1bn8Rw1SHEtc0KhGdtNV8Bmd5Ik2oobK2R4xH6inXt9sOvJ1LI40vVMZiUGVLqj7BXXc8d2FtpabqE-c3b7oAQYoIxvC78RkA/s400/src09slides.024.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316412584191487634" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_nYrPRLFSgNvlTqpMZgS6QrC74qsmnvSzk7t-LViNtP586q07Zk5KaaIMW9BugrYZgaZ8etjAELoW4XCTTQP2CV773Gbb1lxWbmzoGUQrthWoswhSMatuISnUqIMFILoSJGUaQ/s1600-h/src09slides.025.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_nYrPRLFSgNvlTqpMZgS6QrC74qsmnvSzk7t-LViNtP586q07Zk5KaaIMW9BugrYZgaZ8etjAELoW4XCTTQP2CV773Gbb1lxWbmzoGUQrthWoswhSMatuISnUqIMFILoSJGUaQ/s400/src09slides.025.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316412566457968290" /></a>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-21076340760604493902009-03-16T14:53:00.004-06:002009-03-16T15:01:20.275-06:00Finding Gold in WasteI first learned about this <a href="http://studentw.blogspot.com">here</a>, but wanted to share it again. In short, before you discard all of your junk, you might want to be sure that it is indeed worthless. In the video below, these guys are finding gold in the sewage.<br /><script src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=dom&vid=/video/tech/2009/02/22/lah.japan.gold.poop.cnn" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a></noscript>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-82652994907197561592009-02-03T12:25:00.006-07:002009-02-03T12:51:10.727-07:00Tolerance and Acceptance<img style="border: 0px none ; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXSklTlQ0ELq6I73micm9t_MFTIa3SQLVH0prrgmxuiQPU8_8hTxpYLjh9kSqT9UTHMCxUKFY_c9_w5Vrfi_w9Q_N6QaalopCVvbqo38zpVSDmfNgYtHZI0WOXHuL8f9nVgZVZSQ/s400/community.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298658492924795762" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://education.byu.edu/comd/faculty/culatta.html">Dr. Barbara Culatta</a> gave an excellent devotional today on being tolerant and accepting people around you. She effectively discussed the seven tips below:<br /><ol><li>Look for Commonalities</li><li>Accept People Where They Are</li><li>Reflect on Goodness in Other Religions</li><li>See Differences as Part of Life</li><li>Value What We Can Learn From Others</li><li>Serve People from Different Faith and Backgrounds</li><li>Give a Soft Response When Criticized</li></ol>Each of these suggestions (with the exception of #1) encourages us to build "bridging" relationships with people different from us. Tip #1 reminds us that in order to effectively build bridging relationships, we need at least some common ground. When it gets right down to it, we have something in common with everyone (e.g., we are all human beings, we all need food and water). Bridging social capital increases as we establish these types of relationships. Bridging capital is usually harder to obtain as it requires more effort to establish, yet, it is often more rewarding since it gives connecting parties access to resources and information that they otherwise would not have. <br /><br />These useful tips that can help us be more effective at building these bridges, which improve our social networks.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-51808913301477748082009-02-02T10:54:00.010-07:002009-02-02T11:17:58.148-07:00Using Color in LatexHave you ever wanted to use color in latex? It is actually pretty simple. All you need to do is include the <code>color</code> package:<code><pre>\usepackage[usenames]{color}</pre></code>Then you can use simple commands like:<code><pre>\textcolor{Red}{I like Red.}</pre></code>To produce:<img style="display: block; text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 64px; height: 20px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XCUKBKZtH5sCrsYC3H1RXAqjUn2BPWDT8By2SrxTM3hsybfdl2SPlaGBSCsL5PJra-YCiIyP2IdFOc3XzxNiQsUPc9RXQll2Dj6NiLWX-YNAxWNuwT_WR_mBYBXd50kUQKL7mA/s400/latex-red.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298261240791286866" border="0" /><br />Here is a list of the 68 standard colors that you could use:<br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusyBRZ7q3GOrUCmIyNdpw8O7JFmuLIocwwAcc3y1tnCWByqi3BAeqgLnM_1qH2-Nfly_-5dIk1g7ex0_YdPSwJwzA1iWp4qSBGDTMaKyqRbPYv-S45WBL4HOtZBiFAECJ0is9Wg/s400/latex-colors.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298264872446761426" /><div style="font-size: small; color: rgb(170, 170, 170); text-align: center;">Apricot Aquamarine Bittersweet Black Blue BlueGreen BlueViolet BrickRed Brown BurntOrange CadetBlue CarnationPink Cerulean CornflowerBlue Cyan Dandelion DarkOrchid Emerald ForestGreen Fuchsia Goldenrod Gray Green GreenYellow JungleGreen Lavender LimeGreen Magenta Mahogany Maroon Melon MidnightBlue Mulberry NavyBlue OliveGreen Orange OrangeRed Orchid Peach Periwinkle PineGreen Plum ProcessBlue Purple RawSienna Red RedOrange RedViolet Rhodamine RoyalBlue RoyalPurple RubineRed Salmon SeaGreen Sepia SkyBlue SpringGreen Tan TealBlue Thistle Turquoise Violet VioletRed White WildStrawberry Yellow YellowGreen YellowOrange</div>Furthermore, you can define custom colors by specifying the RGB values as follows:<pre>\definecolor{MyCrazyColor}{cmyk}{0.2,0.8,0,0.1}</pre><br />and then using it as you would the other colors, like so:<pre>\textcolor{MyCrazyColor}{My text in my crazy color.}</pre><br />Read more about it at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://oregonstate.edu/%7Epeterseb/tex/samples/color-package.html">Bent Peterson's site</a>.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-85429771983283621812009-01-30T19:07:00.005-07:002009-01-30T19:18:44.595-07:00Social Capital in Startup NetworksSocial capital in action surrounds us. Below is a list of sites focused on the niche of starting up new businesses. In order for such ventures to be successful, it is often necessary to build a team of individuals that have complementary attributes and abilities. We are currently working on ways that we can quantify some of these behaviors given the rich data that is generated online everyday.<br /><ul><li><a href="http://500hats.typepad.com/">500 Hats</a></li><li><a href="http://avc.blogs.com/">A VC</a></li><li><a href="http://betaworks.com/">Betaworks (NYC)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.feld.com/blog/">Feld Thoughts</a></li><li><a href="http://www.founderscoop.com/">Founder's Co-Op (Seattle)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.launchboxdigital.com/">LaunchBox Digital (DC)</a></li><li><a href="http://onstartups.com/">On Startups</a></li><li><a href="http://www.opencoffeeclub.org/">OpenCoffee Club</a></li><li><a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/">Paul Graham</a></li><li><a href="http://redeye.firstround.com/">Redeye VC</a></li><li><a href="http://www.seedcamp.com/">Seedcamp (London)</a></li><li><a href="http://svb.com/">Silicon Valley Bank</a></li><li><a href="http://startup2startup.com/">Startup2Startup</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://www.techstars.org/">TechStars (Colorado)</a></li><li><a href="http://trinityventures.com/">Trinity Ventures</a></li><li><a href="http://venturehacks.com/">Venture Hacks</a></li><li><a href="http://www.ventureblog.com/">VentureBlog</a></li><li><a href="http://webstartupgroup.com/">Web Startup Group (Provo, UT)</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://ycombinator.com/">Y Combinator (Boston, SF)</a></li></ul>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-31346323941295017672009-01-28T08:50:00.004-07:002009-01-28T17:26:42.873-07:00Social dimensions of social mediaBelow is the slide presentation that Marc Smith gave at ICWSM. I met Marc at the CIKM 2008 Workshop on Search in Social Media (SSM 2008) in Napa Valley, CA. He is a creative thinker that is always interesting to watch and listen to. <br /><div style="width:425px;text-align:left" id="__ss_858683"><a style="font:14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;display:block;margin:12px 0 3px 0;text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/Marc_A_Smith/2008-icwsm-marc-smith-some-dimensions-of-social-media-presentation?type=powerpoint" title="2008 - ICWSM - Marc Smith - Some Dimensions Of Social Media">2008 - ICWSM - Marc Smith - Some Dimensions Of Social Media</a><object style="margin:0px" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=2008-icwsm-some-dimensions-of-social-media-1229652135585614-1&stripped_title=2008-icwsm-marc-smith-some-dimensions-of-social-media-presentation" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=2008-icwsm-some-dimensions-of-social-media-1229652135585614-1&stripped_title=2008-icwsm-marc-smith-some-dimensions-of-social-media-presentation" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><div style="font-size:11px;font-family:tahoma,arial;height:26px;padding-top:2px;">View more <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> or <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/upload?type=powerpoint">upload</a> your own. (tags: <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://slideshare.net/tag/telligent">telligent</a> <a style="text-decoration:underline;" href="http://slideshare.net/tag/marc">marc</a>)</div></div><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyMzMxNTc3MTAzNjAmcHQ9MTIzMzE1Nzc5MTQ3OSZwPTEwMTkxJmQ9Jmc9MiZ*PSZvPTYzOWY5ZWY5M2Y*NDQ4ZjFhMjY*MDFmNGQ5YjVkZmZl.gif" /><br />Also, you can watch the video of this presentation by clicking the picture below:<br /><a href='http://videolectures.net/icwsm08_smith_sdsm/'><img src='http://videolectures.net/icwsm08_smith_sdsm/thumb.jpg' border=0/></a><br />Social dimension of social media (Marc Smith)<br /><br />Enjoy!Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-47033323419802691772009-01-15T23:56:00.010-07:002009-01-20T15:34:27.630-07:00Family Reunion on FacebookReunion sites are used primarily to "get the word out" about the reunion (e.g., location, events, cost), gather people's information (e.g., family member names), collect dues, and share family media (e.g., stories, pictures, videos).<br /><br />Traditionally, I've been the guy that gets asked to build the reunion website --- as I'm involved in the planning meetings. Through the years, I've built a few <a href="http://ths97.com/">high school reunion sites</a> and a <a href="http://dravlandreunion.com/">family reunion site</a>. Through the process I have reused much of the code, yet they have all been "custom" websites. Although I had big plans to make my code generic enough that anyone could create a reunion site, I never took the time to do it. Since creating my last reunion site there have been a number of others that have taken the time to do this. For example, <a href="http://ning.com/">Ning</a> and <a href="http://myevent.com/">MyEvent</a> are among a host of such sites that people have used to create reunion sites.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZZSeJq48EmQzXlvhOy7d2cwtDco5v3f4bNbwnSLtYfxQaDlMWbrCLeyJ7GvJZ2htife5IxY2m-c3kejaVtcaSWyTO4JpdmUYDRRc4sTkSy0b07FzMVcDQKwEuktZsQtmC5rGCw/s1600-h/blogging_about_facebook.png"><img style="border: 0px none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 111px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZZSeJq48EmQzXlvhOy7d2cwtDco5v3f4bNbwnSLtYfxQaDlMWbrCLeyJ7GvJZ2htife5IxY2m-c3kejaVtcaSWyTO4JpdmUYDRRc4sTkSy0b07FzMVcDQKwEuktZsQtmC5rGCw/s400/blogging_about_facebook.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291789606730751474" border="0" /></a>Currently, I believe that the quickest and most efficient way to do a reunion website is on <a href="http://facebook.com/">Facebook</a>. Here are a few reasons why I currently believe it to be most efficient solution:<br /><ul><li>It is free</li><li>No coding is necessary (saving time and money)<br /></li><li>Lots of your family is likely already using Facebook, so they will not have to register for another account or re-enter information</li><li>People using Facebook already have media shared and can easily share more, which makes it easy to "catch-up" with family members</li><li>It is easy to create a Group specifically for you family reunion allowing family members to join</li><li>It is easy to create a "Related Event" for the group (i.e., the reunion activities) that members can easily indicate whether or not they plan to attend</li><li>In general, it is much more interactive than any of the other reunion sites<br /></li><li>It may even be "<a href="http://www.kelandpartners.com/kelkellyblog/2008/04/27/facebook-family-reunion/">one of the most fulfilling experiences of [your] life</a>"<br /></li><li>The Network will continue on, even after your planned event is over</li></ul>So, to all that may wish to utilize my services to build them a reunion website... I'm still at your service, so long as we do it on Facebook. ;)Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-32433600701023627152008-12-27T13:25:00.005-07:002009-01-20T15:32:11.446-07:00Recording Skype CallsHere are the basic settings that I used on a Mac to record Skype conversations using SoundFlower, Skype, and Audacity.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />SoundFlower</span><br />Default Input: <span style="font-style: italic;">SoundFlower (2ch)<br /></span>Default Output: <span style="font-style: italic;">Built-in Output</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Skype</span><br />Audio output: <span style="font-style: italic;"> SoundFlower (2ch)</span><br />Audio input: <span style="font-style: italic;">SoundFlower (2ch)</span> (if you wan't to record both sides of the Skype call)<br /> <span style="font-style: italic;">Built-in Microphone</span> (if you only wish to record the other side of the conversation) <br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Audacity</span><br />Recording Device: <span style="font-style: italic;">SoundFlower (2ch)</span><br />Playback Device: <span style="font-style: italic;">Core Audio: Built-in Output</span><br /><br />You could record many other things using similar configurations. Happy Recording!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Update</span>: Since writing this I happened to come across <a href="http://richardkmiller.com/391/how-to-save-voicemail-forever-on-your-mac">another tutorial</a> on doing this with pictures, that you might wish to follow.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-32973491143334906782008-12-16T13:35:00.007-07:002008-12-16T16:30:56.294-07:00Network RolesSocial networks tend to have people that fill positions within the community. For example, within an academic community the roles of being a professor or a student can sometimes be identified solely by using the directed interactions among the individuals. To perform such an analysis, some measure of equivalence is used. In Social Network Analysis by Wasserman and Fauts, the following definitions of equivalence are reviewed (each with a note):<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Structural Equivalence</span> - requires <span style="font-style: italic;">identical</span> ties to other <span style="font-style: italic;">identical</span> actors<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Automorphic and Isomorphic Equivalence</span> - requires identical ties to other actors<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Regular Equivalence</span> - actors have identical ties to and from <span style="font-style: italic;">equivalent</span> actors<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Local Role Equivalence</span> - actors are role equivalent if they have the same role sets<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ego Algebra Equivalence</span> - based on algebra of relational structures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0id8kc9E8F51XjefPEzMFKfMINPV_Fj-oZiNtASPcrwaAnnqbNOkKsMjMtAaSsyogSk5c4z-Y-KODGYuhiyR_pUcVWWu9IDHd8i_IBzO05siA0YvWML0t3oBzpDkm2-smGDCvA/s1600-h/equivalence.png"><img style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0id8kc9E8F51XjefPEzMFKfMINPV_Fj-oZiNtASPcrwaAnnqbNOkKsMjMtAaSsyogSk5c4z-Y-KODGYuhiyR_pUcVWWu9IDHd8i_IBzO05siA0YvWML0t3oBzpDkm2-smGDCvA/s400/equivalence.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280514391739056514" border="0" /></a>So, why is knowing how to use this important? Well, say you would like to better understand the network surrounding your blog by learning which other blogs are similar in their ties as you, then this is how you could do it.</li></ol>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-42598506917038279622008-11-28T18:21:00.006-07:002008-12-09T14:54:51.790-07:00Blog Posts Increasing and Cyclic<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5FrEyUvEYwB3MXnVmf52ohT_bxwV-IgKy6UfZmZxFsLrTxOgId5d9xE8nY4c_qOaXURiGHZOXjeS4fx5-8G-1R932jgaIMVXG8I_0iulRJImn6tEctz9ZGhDRUfP8r8HA36Vig/s1600-h/Picture+114.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 395px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5FrEyUvEYwB3MXnVmf52ohT_bxwV-IgKy6UfZmZxFsLrTxOgId5d9xE8nY4c_qOaXURiGHZOXjeS4fx5-8G-1R932jgaIMVXG8I_0iulRJImn6tEctz9ZGhDRUfP8r8HA36Vig/s400/Picture+114.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277903096143236466" /></a><br />During the span of a year, the over 200 blogs aggregated above show very cyclic behavior. It shows very prominently that these bloggers post significantly more posts during the week rather than on the weekends.<br /><br />Additionally, as time went on, these blogs as a group posted more frequently.<br /><br />I would guess that the sink during December was caused by the Christmas holiday.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-34643232390525439542008-11-25T09:53:00.011-07:002008-12-09T14:11:15.489-07:00Christmas Gift Giving ToolChristmas is a time for gift-giving --- sometimes, families and friends need a quick way to determine who gives to who. So, I created this little tool that allows families and friends to quickly enter the names of people (that will be giving and receiving gifts) to have gift-giving list automatically (and randomly) generated.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://givesto.appspot.com/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 394px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf34ZyPtVBpbp4XMUGQe5LlAcz_gmUcwM4rMxAiEwCfFH4lZylSMkGFKEsweOSuCia9PLSqTTf54h-WmGKd6ftZfcu-0s7LXsjSkjwfKbGhnTjTtjiAHxt977-Iqy02Os9o4rf3Q/s400/Picture+113.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272643243927641490" /></a><br />It is nice to have a tool like this so the lists can be generated early and gift-giving becomes that much easier --- you don't have to wait until somebody gets the old hat out and writes down everyone's name. Additionally, it seems to be more fair and is less complicated. ;)<br /><br />The program was built using <a href="http://www.python.org/">Python</a> and <a href="http://code.google.com/appengine/">Google App Engine</a>.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-66906943904859147152008-11-20T11:26:00.007-07:002008-11-20T11:40:05.490-07:00LaTex: Vertical TextScientific publications in computer science are often created using <a href="http://www.latex-project.org/ ">LaTeX</a>. Here is a little tip for making text appear vertically in Latex. <br />First, you need to include the following library:<br /><pre><code>\usepackage{rotating}</code></pre><br />Next, you can use the <code>sideways</code> environment, as follows:<br /><pre>\begin{sideways}YOURTEXT\end{sideways}</pre><br />Finally here is an example used within a table:<br /><pre>\begin{tabular}{|r|r|c|}\hline<br />\begin{sideways}Letter\end{sideways} & \begin{sideways}Frequency\end{sideways} & Words \\<br />\hline<br />A & 0.05 & Apple, Algebra, Altruistic, Angel \\<br />B & 0.45 & Basketball, Ballroom, Bear, Bountiful \\<br />\hline<br />\end{tabular}</pre><br />Which produces:<br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 282px; height: 94px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYAnfkmm0iv0Tw_wMXSU5MlkMM_Y2_SwSuYdqX0-wMWKmrn5bR1DfltV1d2a8STAvlns6Yg7Hb6kJYesPdmsNXId34c41B4IuM0upCbPH0xR4X3ofq2GaklzTKRnlPqyGFQSpM2A/s320/Picture+108.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270808491383999458" />Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-87349249288972119372008-11-04T23:51:00.004-07:002008-11-04T23:59:11.691-07:00Obama: 44th US President<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45172000/jpg/_45172532_obama_getty_226.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 170px;" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45172000/jpg/_45172532_obama_getty_226.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Barack Obama has been elected as the next President of the United States of America. I enjoyed following the election coverage this season as it was particularly exciting. Although my first choice for President was Mitt Romney, I believe that Obama will work to unite the country and improve International relations.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-35593340024775655382008-10-30T10:13:00.003-06:002008-10-30T23:14:55.539-06:00PIKM - rough notes<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Session 1: Chair - Prasan Roy</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> A SQL Database System for Solving Constraints<br /></span>An interesting take on enhancing SQL to solve constraint problems<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Acquiring Advanced Properties in Ontology Mapping<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>Using ontologies to improve knowledge management<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Social Capital in Online Communities</span><br />This was my presentation. ;)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Session 2: Chair - Aparna Varde</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Concept Search in Urdu</span> - interesting challenges. He proposes to write a language specific stemmer to be used for the Urdu language<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Topic Models and a Revisit of Text-related Applications</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">An Extended Cooperative Transaction Model for XML</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Session 3: Chair - Anisoara Nica</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> The Benefit of additional Semantics in Folksonomy Systems</span><br />Exploiting additional context in folksonomies (abel@L3S.de)<br />Ideas: GroupMe, Social HITS, Automating MOAT, relations between tag assignments<br />MOAT - Meaning of a Tag (automatic MOAT using context of resource), MOAT server, DBPedia<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Microscopic View on Community Detection in Complex Networks</span> - No Show<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Towards Privacy-Preserving Integration of Distributed Heterogeneous Data</span><br />Privacy-Perserving Data Sharing Architecture. Pawel Jurczyk presented a fairly complex system which hopes to solve the problem of preserving privacy when sharing data. This approach could be applied to hospitals that wish to share data in order to make use of one another's data.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Concurrency Control and Recovery for Multiversion Database Structures</span><br />Tuukka Haapasalo (thaapasa@cs.hut.fi) proposes a solution for multiversion databases. Propositions: 1) extend B-Trees: TSBT, Transactional MVBT, or 2) Two-dimensional R-tree.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-30560268917182467362008-10-22T22:39:00.005-06:002008-10-22T22:46:10.457-06:00Web Startup Group Meets Thursday NightThe first official <a href="http://webstartupgroup.com">Web Startup Group</a> meeting is tomorrow night. It should be a fun event that good things will come from. It will be at 7:00 PM in the TMCB at Brigham Young University. All interested are welcome to attend.<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://webstartupgroup.com"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 240px; border: 0px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPuvHf3QQJBOk-UkviZ4a7CY1fW4eFBWLbMiyi44tRBg_pHtNcONjgoEA03agNx5vA-M-kSb2PZgIlY7z8b6puXZo-6CL9vswTrooJK0AKZmIPXJYVLRlHAu_APr3gEEuC5WM_Q/s320/logo_medium.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260204646906102898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >the updated logo</span></span><br /></div>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-68249703538187968852008-10-15T11:08:00.004-06:002008-10-15T12:25:40.993-06:00Security Analysis of Reputation Systems<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">I came across this report on <a href="http://www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/deliverables/enisa_pp_reputation_based_system.pdf">reputation-based systems</a> today which I found at a <a href="http://socap.blogspot.com/">reputation based social capital blog</a>. It highlights the security threats against current reputation systems, use cases, and even ten recommendations to combat these threats.<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zmb2Zlj_LVZx9xvg1i83codl8wEwHPhE-ZIMlkkfEWPbjnBWrgIDc9kZHxVyr17OC_OEXn0kPtTi8Y0QKcfpZBQ3IcIJ5EBuiCDkIgNVbNwXaIuQOwu1LrCu8yXI1jSaPLWJmg/s320/Picture+98.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257430832578938210" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Snapshot of the some of the recommendations</span></span><br /></div>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-56036055975582478292008-10-10T12:00:00.015-06:002008-12-18T11:41:45.615-07:00Information Pathways in Social NetworksThe first talk presented in the social network session of KDD 2008 was for an interesting paper by G. Kossinets, J. Kleinberg, and D. Watts titled <span style="font-style: italic;">The Structure of Information Pathways in a Social Communication Network</span> (<a href="http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/kdd08-bb.pdf">PDF</a>). Although I was not at KDD I was able to watch it online at <a href="http://videolectures.net/kdd08_kleinberg_sipscn/">videolectures.net</a>.<br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqHgQ_gszyi38Bfqf8nVec6dan-LDkjQWZHjfmaTGKUZNiQUXZwWJuHhlZ-2eW1Sba0sqFykdeOr8jMwJO2C4dQtlkqy073d6VvbhyIoVC9VmNkHUbFyWLptmZwMY_ImLovxBlZA/s320/Picture+97.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257251425191729970" border="0" />Kleinberg, the presenter, made some interesting observations having to do with our "rhythmic" everyday conversations. The approach to analyzing communication within these social networks is focused on the frequency of correspondence, rather than the content conveyed.<br /><br />They measure "distance" between individuals by measuring the minimum time required for information to pass from one node to another. A methodology based on Lamport's work and vector clocks in the area of distributed computing.<br /><br />Using this metric they are able to filter a busy network (one having edges for all communication packets) in a simplified network that contains only the edges that are minimum-delay paths between a pair of nodes. They call this simplified network view the <span style="font-style: italic;">network backbone</span>. Below is an example of such a network (along with the caption) taken from the paper.<br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1hbHnwwV49IGCUnYG4VkXiR5UGMmqwGCgBacRhDtKdI1OCbXMmWhixmQeVVP-EQpmeuz7oFl1yJWf_BglK-V9NrUAtfJ83p1sb0xHkr-vYyDKs0yvaonXmPTxGtLG9opGjqQ2w/s400/Picture+83.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255636382596193938" border="0" />The nodes further outside of the center of the graph are more "out-of-date" with respect to node <span style="font-style: italic;">v</span>, since they communicate less frequently.<br /><br />I found the approach to be novel and useful. As with nearly any analysis technique, caution should be used in selecting the time-period and group size to be studied. Recency and frequency issues come into play as correspondence is aggregated. However, this pursuit offers another approach for more fully understanding information flow.<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><a href="http://dmine.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ></span></a>Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8277774.post-87858284926914175522008-10-06T15:19:00.005-06:002008-10-07T16:45:02.257-06:00Revision ControlIf you worked on software in collaboration with multiple developers, then you've probably used (or wished you used) some sort of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revision_control">revision control system</a>. The Google Search Volume Index plot below suggests some trends surrounding the currently available tools.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(Note: by no means is this very scientific, due to the fact that people searching with these terms could have been searching for something entirely different.)</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Hdka9xQj8UdzXgT7I4NcI4npiIdVrq3fgCT5ZP-uQIi4kqtYZHkUmLOyRCeVoWVScm5jivCFEJCR1eHiah5wch8WmVULA6y3z8wcTVIujngT4IdJp6iTJK3KOm-LqnCNCXWRMQ/s1600-h/Picture+93.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Hdka9xQj8UdzXgT7I4NcI4npiIdVrq3fgCT5ZP-uQIi4kqtYZHkUmLOyRCeVoWVScm5jivCFEJCR1eHiah5wch8WmVULA6y3z8wcTVIujngT4IdJp6iTJK3KOm-LqnCNCXWRMQ/s400/Picture+93.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254154362851167826" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/">CVS</a>, although huge in its time, is on the decline, while <a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/">SVN</a>, <a href="http://git.or.cz/">Git</a>, and <a href="http://www.selenic.com/mercurial/wiki/">Mercurial</a> are on the rise. I have used plenty of CVS and SVN to be ready for change. I am now using Git which I have really liked so far. If you have already been using SVN as I had, I would recommend the <a href="http://git.or.cz/course/svn.html">Git-SVN Crash course</a> to get started quickly.Matt Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00366225861010849516noreply@blogger.com2