July 25, 2009 by sean.

Posted in fun | No Comments »

July 24, 2009 by sean.

Drew Conway has a review of the July 2009 issue of Science dedicated to Network Science [via Zero Intelligence Agents]:

The currently issue of Science magazine is entirely dedicated to networks and network science. The issue is packed with interesting articles, and is certain must-read for anyone studying or working with networks. The editors of Science have done well in capturing the breadth of disciplines and interests studying networks. One article that I will not cover in detail but recommend to all readers is Carter Butt’s “Revisiting the Foundation of Network Analysis,” where he discusses what is, and more appropriately, what is not network analysis, and how the science got here.

The article discussing network analysis and national security, in fact, is an excellent example of the wide audience for this topic; however, the thesis of the piece was rather disappointing. In “Counterterrorism’s New Tool: ‘Metanetwork’ Analysis“, we we hear from a veritable who’s-who in the national security/network analysis space. Starting with those on the technology front at Palantir Technologies (the same software we used from Project Grey Goose), to well respected practitioners in academia, business and government such as Marc Sageman, Valdis Krebs and Kathleen Carley, among many others. The article discusses where networks have helped, but also possibly hurt U.S. couterterrorism efforts, which made its focus on so called metanetwork analysis confusing.

In short, metanetworks are simple multiple layers of networks; that is, in any given space there will be a layer of social structure as well as physical (roads and waterways), infrastructure (power and communication), exchange (financial), etc. Metanetwork analysis attempts to examine this complex system as a whole in order to examine how activity on one layer can affect the others, and vice a versa. In theory, this is very appealing, however, in practice this method fails in two major ways.

Careers and research in Network Science are also increasing to the point where physicist Albert-László Barabási says, “I’m unable to keep up” [via sciencecareers.com]:

What unites the sociologists, physicists, biologists, and other scientists studying networks is the recognition that “whether they’re networks of people, computers, genes, [or] neurons, they often obey similar mathematical rules and have similar properties,” says Nicholas Christakis, a professor of sociology and of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School in Boston….

The National Science Foundation, too, has been increasing its support for network science, especially within the divisions dedicated to computer science and human social dynamics. There is also growing military support for network research, Barabási says, pointing to research programs funded by the Army, Air Force, Office of Naval Research, and Defense Threat Reduction Agency. “There’s never enough money, of course,” he says. “But we’re seeing that many agencies are discovering that this is important, and they’re putting their money where their mouth is.”

Posted in mathematics, social networks | No Comments »

July 24, 2009 by sean.

Drew Conway has a review of the July 2009 issue of Science dedicated to Network Science [via Zero Intelligence Agents]:

The currently issue of Science magazine is entirely dedicated to networks and network science. The issue is packed with interesting articles, and is certain must-read for anyone studying or working with networks. The editors of Science have done well in capturing the breadth of disciplines and interests studying networks. One article that I will not cover in detail but recommend to all readers is Carter Butt’s “Revisiting the Foundation of Network Analysis,” where he discusses what is, and more appropriately, what is not network analysis, and how the science got here.

The article discussing network analysis and national security, in fact, is an excellent example of the wide audience for this topic; however, the thesis of the piece was rather disappointing. In “Counterterrorism’s New Tool: ‘Metanetwork’ Analysis“, we we hear from a veritable who’s-who in the national security/network analysis space. Starting with those on the technology front at Palantir Technologies (the same software we used from Project Grey Goose), to well respected practitioners in academia, business and government such as Marc Sageman, Valdis Krebs and Kathleen Carley, among many others. The article discusses where networks have helped, but also possibly hurt U.S. couterterrorism efforts, which made its focus on so called metanetwork analysis confusing.

In short, metanetworks are simple multiple layers of networks; that is, in any given space there will be a layer of social structure as well as physical (roads and waterways), infrastructure (power and communication), exchange (financial), etc. Metanetwork analysis attempts to examine this complex system as a whole in order to examine how activity on one layer can affect the others, and vice a versa. In theory, this is very appealing, however, in practice this method fails in two major ways.

Careers and research in Network Science are also increasing to the point where physicist Albert-László Barabási says, “I’m unable to keep up” [via sciencecareers.com]:

What unites the sociologists, physicists, biologists, and other scientists studying networks is the recognition that “whether they’re networks of people, computers, genes, [or] neurons, they often obey similar mathematical rules and have similar properties,” says Nicholas Christakis, a professor of sociology and of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The National Science Foundation, too, has been increasing its support for network science, especially within the divisions dedicated to computer science and human social dynamics. There is also growing military support for network research, Barabási says, pointing to research programs funded by the Army, Air Force, Office of Naval Research, and Defense Threat Reduction Agency. “There’s never enough money, of course,” he says. “But we’re seeing that many agencies are discovering that this is important, and they’re putting their money where their mouth is.”

Posted in mathematics, social networks | No Comments »

July 20, 2009 by sean.

Website of Media Destruction has an excellent article on how new media is changing the role of government with reference to William Gibson’s 2003 op-ed for the NYT:

Orwell’s projections come from the era of information broadcasting, and are not applicable to our own. Had Orwell been able to equip Big Brother with all the tools of artificial intelligence, he would still have been writing from an older paradigm, and the result could never have described our situation today, nor suggested where we might be heading.

That our own biggish brothers, in the name of national security, draw from ever wider and increasingly transparent fields of data may disturb us, but this is something that corporations, nongovernmental organizations and individuals do as well, with greater and greater frequency. The collection and management of information, at every level, is exponentially empowered by the global nature of the system itself, a system unfettered by national boundaries or, increasingly, government control.

It is becoming unprecedentedly difficult for anyone, anyone at all, to keep a secret.

In the age of the leak and the blog, of evidence extraction and link discovery, truths will either out or be outed, later if not sooner. This is something I would bring to the attention of every diplomat, politician and corporate leader: the future, eventually, will find you out. The future, wielding unimaginable tools of transparency, will have its way with you. In the end, you will be seen to have done that which you did. (Emphasis mine)

Posted in psychology, social media, scifi, mobile computing | No Comments »

July 19, 2009 by sean.

Posted in psychology, science | No Comments »

July 19, 2009 by sean.

Ze Frank talks with host Jesse Thorn about creativity, what works on the internet and why, and being a traffic whore. Plus a whole lot of other stuff, like rubbing his head on the microphone.

Posted in fun, collective intelligence | No Comments »

July 19, 2009 by sean.

Posted in social media, augmented cognition | No Comments »

July 19, 2009 by sean.

Posted in behavioral economics, psychology, work | No Comments »