Tactics of Influence
Name Calling
Bad names have played a tremendously powerful role in the history of the world and in our own individual development. They have ruined reputations, stirred men and women to outstanding accomplishments, sent others to prison cells, and made men mad enough to enter battle and slaughter their fellowmen.
Glittering Generalities
We believe in, fight for, live by virtue words about which we have deep-set ideas. Such words include civilization, Christianity, good, proper, right, democracy, patriotism, motherhood, fatherhood, science, medicine, health, and love.
Transfer
Transfer is a device by which the propagandist carries over the authority, sanction, and prestige of something we respect and revere to something he would have us accept.
Plain Folks
By using the plain-folks technique, speakers attempt to convince their audience that they, and their ideas, are “of the people.” The device is used by advertisers and politicans alike.
Fear
There are four elements to a successful fear appeal: 1) a threat, 2) a specific recommendation about how the audience should behave, 3) audience perception that the recommendation will be effective in addressing the threat, and 4) audience perception that they are capable of performing the recommended behavior.
[Excerpts from articles from the Institute for Propaganda Analysis 1937-1942}
Data Visualization Libraries
A Beautiful WWW compiled nice a summarized list of some viz libraries. Prefuse, Flair and Processing are some of my favorites.
1. Prefuse (Java) & FLAIR (Flex)  |
| 2. simile (AJAX)
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| 3. Processing (Java)
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| 4. GigaPan (Service)
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| 5. Modest Maps (Flash, Python)
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| 6. Google Visualization API (Javascript)
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| 7. Google Chart API (Javascript)
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| 8. Google Maps API (Javascript, Flash) |
| 9. GraphViz (Wrappers for a dozen languages including Java, Perl, Python. Free.)
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| 10. JFree (Java)
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| 11. pChart (PHP)
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| 12. OpenLayers (JavaScript)
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| 13. Anti-Grain (C++)
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| 14. JGraph (Java)
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| 15. Boost Graph Library (C++, phyton wrapper) |
| 16. Open Flash Chart (Flash)
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| 17. Ubigraph (Wrappers for Python, Java, C, and more)
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| 18. JUNG (Java)
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| 19. TimeMap (Java)
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| 20. Many Eyes (online service)
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service-oriented science
Full Article: ScienceMag: “Service-oriented science has the potential to increase individual and collective scientific productivity by making powerful information tools available to all, and thus enabling the widespread automation of data analysis and computation. Ultimately, we can imagine a future in which a community’s shared understanding is no longer documented exclusively in the scientific literature but is documented also in the various databases and programs that represent—and automatically maintain and evolve—a collective knowledge base.”
Influencers: Eva Schiffer on confusion
“I help to get you to the fruitful state of ‘confused but on a higher level.’”
-Eva Schiffer, Independent Network Scientist
Eva Schiffer is a social scientist who teaches very accessible but powerful principles of network analysis, as well as basic skill-sets to empower people to make changes in their community. To do this, Dr. Schiffer created the Net-Map toolbox:
“(When working for the International Food Policy Research Institute) I developed Net-Map as an answer to concrete local governance problems…Net-Map is an interview-based mapping tool that helps people understand, visualize, discuss, and improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes”
Some of her projects include assisting communities in Northern Ghana develop strategy for governance and environmental preservation, and also works with groups who want to analyze the key influencers in their society.
“Determining linkages, levels of influence, and goals allows users to be more strategic about how they act in these complex situations. It helps users to answer questions such as: Do you need to strengthen the links to an influential potential supporter (high influence, same goals)? Do you have to be aware of an influential actor who doesn’t share your goals? Can increased networking help empower your dis-empowered beneficiaries?”
I encourage anyone interested in practical applications of the field to visit her site and learn more about the Net-Map toolbox, Dr. Schiffer’s methodology and organization.
“Confusion is the puzzled realization: ‘Maybe the world is completely different from how I thought it was. Maybe my organization works in ways, that I don’t even start to understand. Did I have it completely wrong?’ That’s a painful feeling. The more you like security, the longer you have believed one thing, the more painful this is.
Drawing network maps with groups is one way to do this, because most people have strong beliefs about how the social settings they work in are structured. You can feel the amount of agitation in a group rising when they realize that other people disagree and that they are basically not talking about hard facts but about perceptions. While arguing about individual links, everyone learns a lot of details about the actual flows within the network and that’s great. But I think for a lot of participants the change of perspective and the confusion that it leads to is the more productive power.”
Sir Tim Berners-Lee on semantic web
BBC interview: Sir Tim Berners-Lee, credited for discovering the World Wide Web gives his definition and outlook of semantic web and data openness.
Google Privacy Center
Average users should also know that although cookies themselves don’t collect personal identifiable information, any anonymous user is trackable by their IP address which gives any site visited an indicator of where you are, what you click on, and how long you stay. Research companies such as Quantcast use similar non-identifiable tracking methods to generate behavioral algorithms that determine your race, gender, income, and buying habits based upon which sites you frequent and how you interact with the site.
If you choose to register for a site, or login to Google or another portal, all activity within that domain becomes personally identifiable because you are logged in. Now companies like Google can create even more complicated algorithms to predict your behavior. The added value is getting recommendations and “custom web experiences,” the down side is that the information is privately held and there are large corporations going to war for this data.
Artificial Intelligence For Human Error (Laziness)
Computers are trained to evolve in complex system, just like us.
Machine learning techniques used in your Netflix, Amazon, Facebook friend ‘recommendations’ are monitoring common purchase and navigation decisions to help you find what you are looking for – often before you even know. Humans actually create these underlying algorithms (so don’t get too comfortable), but it shows that today’s online interaction involve growing trust and dependence on computer outputs for decision making.
This technological revolution is hidden thanks to user experience experts and Web 2.0. People who understand the underpinnings are some of our most valuable and dangerous resources in that they maintain the systems we all depend on for survival. Think about the engineers running the systems that keep nuclear weapon facilities secure from attacks and meltdowns. This is partly why I believe a lot of programmers think they are gods, but anyway…
I might be a product of my techno-literate generation when I say that I am certainly not afraid of letting computers complete mundane tasks for me, even if discovering the methodologies to do so eliminates my job function or creates dependency.
If I have to repeat a task that takes more then one action on my part I generally get annoyed and try to find a shortcut. Not only will it end up being more accurate (after 8 hours of a particular task I might get a little sloppy on data entry), but computers are actually built to do just this. Why not learn something else and let a computer do what it’s good at? Not understanding the actions a computer takes to complete the task is the only danger.
Anyway my current gigs are heavily involved in mundane Excel usage. So I decided to post a few lists of basic keyboard shortcuts for quick reference. Saves a lot of time – hopefully we can all start finding little ways to eliminate our job functions altogether.
The following collected from LifeHacker Excel powerusers. For another, more organized list click here.
- [ctrl]-Space – select column
- [shift]-Space – select row
- [ctrl]-Arrow Key – depending on which arrow key you hit, it will move the cursor along a series of cells
- [ctrl]-Page Up,
- [ctrl]-Page Down – cycles through worksheets
- [ctrl]+[ins]: copy
- [shift]+[del]: cut
- [shift]+[ins]: paste
- [shift]+[F12]: save
- [ctrl]+[home]: move to top
- [ctrl]+[end]: move to end
- F12: Save As
- [alt]-=: Auto sum. It guesses which cells you want to sum up. Most of the time, it guesses right.
- [alt],e,s,v: Paste special values
- F4: Repeats the last command you just performed.
- [ctrl]-+ or -: Insert or delete cells, rows, or columns.
- [ctrl]-H: Replace
- [alt],d,f,f: Autofilter
- [alt]-i-w: Insert new worksheet.
- [ctrl]+d: replicate the contents of the cell above.
- To remove hyperlinks from rows of email addresses or the like: type a “1″ in a cell, copy it to the clipboard, select the row of URLS, and paste special > multiply.
- Also, these commands can become your best friend when working with lists: VLOOKUP, LEFT, RIGHT, LEN, TEXT.
- If you want to input something into a bunch of different cells, select the range using the shift key (or select non-contiguous cells using the control key). After you type your text/forumula in first cell, press control+enter (instead of just the enter key). Your entry will be duplicated into all of the cells you selected.
- [ctrl]+[+]: inserts either a row or column
- [ctrl]+[']: copies value of cell above
- [ctrl]+[;]: inserts system date
- [ctrl]+[:]: inserts system time [ctrl]+[backspace]: shows the selected cell (very useful if you’ve scrolled down with your mouse)
- [ctrl]+[~]: formula view
- [ctrl]+[d]: fill down
- [ctrl]+[r]: fill right
Of course, these old standbys work in any Windows app: - [alt]-o-c-h: hide column
- [alt]-o-c-u: unhide column
- [alt]-o-r-h: hide row
- [alt]-o-r-u: unhide row
- [alt]-f-c: closes current workbook
- $A$1, A$1, $A1 and A1 [shift]+[alt]+[right arrow] – groups the selected row(s) or column(s). If the entire row or column isn’t selected, you’ll be prompted to select which.
- [shift]+[alt]+[left arrow] – ungroups the selected row(s) or column(s).
ctrl+shift+down (selects all cells below the current one) then press ctrl+d (to copy the formula down)
DOT.TUNES Releases HookUp, a Media Sharing Application for iTunes Users
DOT.TUNES Releases HookUp, a Media Sharing Application for iTunes Users
HookUp enables streaming and downloading of music & movies directly through the iTunes interface
New York, New York, May 2, 2008
DOT.TUNES, the outfit that created the ultimate iTunes web server, has just released the ultimate iTunes companion: HookUp. While DOT.TUNES 4 enables you to access your iTunes media library from a host of devices (web browsers, mobile phones, gaming platforms, etc.), HookUp enables streaming and downloading of music & movies directly through the iTunes interface. HookUp has been designed for the iTunes user, so there is no additional technology to learn.
Unlike other applications, such as Simplify Media or Mojo, HookUp goes further than simply sharing the user’s iTunes library. HookUp enables the user to play and download from every computer running iTunes in a remote network, and to download from every iTunes in a local network. HookUp also allows sharing with unlimited friends/users, and even remote iPhoto sharing.
What makes HookUp revolutionary, is its capacity to access remote iTunes library neighborhoods. This is an iTunes sharing first. HookUp has a simple installation, and its streamlined invitation process means you and your friends are sharing in no time.
HookUp has an intuitive interface that shows who’s connected, as well as all the libraries that you can access. It also has an iTunes toolbar, from which you can initiate downloads, monitor activity and access available shares. HookUp shares show up in iTunes, in the same way that local shares do.
HookUp is destined to be the next great social networking application, because with HookUp, you aren’t simply compiling a friend list, but creating a network of exchange. When you HookUp, you can instantly connect to any of your friends to share songs, playlists, movies or videos. It also includes integrated features like Chat and Email, providing seamless communication with other connected users while they’re online.
MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS
QUOTES
[available upon request]
The DOT.TUNES team is a tight group of professional musicians, software developers and music lovers who thrive on getting things done as simply and effectively as possible. Like most great inventions, DOT.TUNES was borne out of necessity when our producers asked: How can I get my original compositions and works-in-progress to my collaborators? The DOT.TUNES team has never encountered a technological challenge they weren’t willing to tackle.
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Technorati Tags: itunes | music sharing | dottunes | download | apple software | itunes software
Sex and Social Networks
“Don’t let kidding or pressure from friends, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, or even the media push you into something that’s not right for you. The truth is that most teens are not having sex.” -Larissa Hearsh MD, Kidshealth.com
According to the Guttmacher Institute since 1950, 90% of the US population reports having having pre-marital sex. Despite the 86% decrease of unwanted teen pregnancies being directly attributed to teens better educated about contraceptives, sex ed has become increasingly focused on strict abstinence. Millions of federal tax dollars are being invested in programs that do not teach safe sex practices.
In a study by Bearman, Moody, and Stoval on the structure of adolescent sexual relations, over 50% of teens at ‘Jefferson High School’ agree that practicing abstinence doesn’t suit their lifestyle.
Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) prevention policy is generally approached the same way for teens and adults, despite there being distinct differences between sexual network structures. The 2004 study presents challenge to basic sexual social network models which public policy creators and sociology practitioners use to design programs for sexual eduction and STI prevention. Often these policies are based upon variants of the Core Infection Model (Fig 1). The spread of disease is narrowed into randomized models that depend on high-risk individuals (black nodes) cycling the disease within their communities and other individuals that may not be particularly high risk, but remain closely tied to the core. Occasionally they connect with a node that leads to a another cluster with similar high-risk cores (Panel C).
The Jefferson HS study is unique because it is sampling the majority of the teen population in a small town, which could be compared to infection environments in homogeneous populations in rural areas of the world. In the end the partner selection process and the social pressures of the tight knit community play a huge role in the structure of the sexual network.
This study is now used as a basic example to students of social network analysis. Despite this research and numerous studies done on the effects of sexual education, teen sexual health is a critical health issue:
- Between 1995 and 2002, U.S. teen pregnancy rates declined by almost one-quarter (24%)
- Despite the decline, the United States continues to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world—almost twice as high as those of England, Wales and Canada, and eight times as high as those of the Netherlands and Japan.
- More than one-quarter of single women with multiple partners never used condoms over the past year, and more than half used them inconsistently.
- Every year, roughly nine million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occur among teens and young adults in the United States. Compared with rates among teens in Canada and Western Europe, rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia among U.S. teens are extremely high.
“This national program (abstinence) which has wasted $1.5bn of tax money is a failure and our teens are paying the price,” -Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood
- Direct medical costs associated with STIs in the United States are estimated at $13 billion annually.
- More than $8 billion is spent each year to diagnose and treat STIs and their complications. This figure does not include HIV.
The Sexual Social Network at Jefferson High School
The key findings of this study show that in comparison to the “Core” sexual network models this community followed a much more structured pattern. Your partner’s choice in partners with similar sexual experience and contraceptive habits is more likely to affect the transfer of an STD then whether they are classified as high-risk. It’s not easy for an infectious disease to travel in these networks because one break in the chain can dismantle the entire structure. At Jefferson High, teens have similar experience levels but they do create a spanning tree once the entire sexual network is visualized.
The researchers wanted to go deeper to try and understand why this model was not a core model in the fact that there are very few cycles and no one person or group is at the center of this network. (Even the player in the right side of the big ring is on the outskirts of the spanned network). They discovered that most logically partner swapping was seen as a social faux pas. Everyone knows everyone’s business in a small town adolescent community and it is looked down upon to date your ex’s new boy’s ex girlfriend.
STDs and unwanted pregnancies are still high in the US population of young adults. The media goes as far as to proclaim a health crisis among teens. Although contraceptive education and use is the only way proven to counteract these statistics, US tax dollars and policies are leaning toward abstinence-only education. The Jefferson case also points at the only way of possibly preventing disease from spreading among these fragile networks is to disperse complete contraceptive education to all teens.
