Abstract

The recognition of some overlap between face to face harassment (bullying) and via digital harassment (cyberbullying) could indicate that variables of social cognition, whose influence has been identified in bullying, also are present in cyberbullying. The aim of this research was to determine the social adjustment of roles involved in cyberbullying and to analyze the differences in the perception of social competence, social goals and peer support, between victims, aggressors and bully-victims of cyberbullying. A number of 505 teenagers (47.3% girls) between 12 and 16 years old (M=13.95, SD=1.42) participated in the study. Validated instruments for Spanish teenagers were used and psychometric properties for the adaptation of the scale of social competence were analyzed. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed optimal scores of reliability and validity. The cyber-bullying victims showed greater involvement in cyberbullying. Comparisons between roles with nonparametric tests showed that cyberbullies had the highest levels of peer support and popularity social goals. Cybervictims were highlighted by a high perception of social competence. Cyberbully-victims were described by their high popularity goals and low peer acceptance. These results support the conclusion that the way in which the peer group manages its emotional and social life may be explaining the situation of cyberbullying among teenagers.

Abstract

Over the recent years, MySpace has been vital to fostering the growth of independent musicians’ followings and have played critical roles in helping mainstream artists maintain fan communities. The popularity of MySpace has been accompanied by the establishment of social protocols which allow musicians to network with one another in an efficient and successful way. These protocols have inspired the publication of various books (such as «MySpace Music Profit Monster!: Proven Online Marketing Stra - tegies!» by Nicky Kalliongis devoted to providing tips and strategies for musicians. While some of these protocols pertain to being savvy with the technological aspect of MySpace, other protocols are directly related to learning a particular manner to network on MySpace. Furthermore, these practices are considered a serious work as they require a lot of time and networking skills to achieve a certain level of success, i.e. increasing the number of friends on one’s network. Thus, this article examines the emerging social protocols on MySpace as a form of affective and immaterial labor. The author argues that the implementation of various tips as provided by MySpace expert will possibly have a regressive effect on musicians’ social networking practices as these could become a standardized and repetitive practice. As a whole, this article traces the evolution of MySpace, especially in regards to the decreasing popularity of the site as a current trend.

Abstract

Peer-to-peer networks have often been touted as the ultimate solution to scalability. Although cooperative techniques have been initially used almost exclusively for content lookup and sharing, one of the most promising application of the peer-to-peer paradigm is to capitalize the bandwidth of client peers to quickly distribute large content and withstand flash-crowds (i.e., a sudden increase in popularity of some online content). Cooperative content distribution is based on the premise that the capacity of a network is as high as the sum of the resources of its nodes: the more peers in the network, the higher its aggregate bandwidth, and the better it can scale and serve new peers. Such networks can thus spontaneously adapt to the demand by taking advantage of available resources. In this paper, we evaluate the use of peer-to-peer networks for content distribution under various system assumptions, such as peer arrival rates, bandwidth capacities, cooperation strategies, or peer lifetimes. We argue that the self-scaling and self-organizing properties of cooperative networks pave the way for cost-effective, yet highly efficient and robust content distribution. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the key ingredients for the realization of Smart Cities. IoT devices are essential components of the Smart Cities infrastructure, as they can provide information collected from the environment through sensors or allow other systems to reach out and act on the world through actuators. IoT data collection, however, is not limited to sensors and machines, but to data from social networks, and the web. Social networks have a huge impact on the amount of data being produced daily, becoming an increasingly central and important data source. The exploitation of these data sources, combined with the growing popularity of mobile devices, can lead to the development of better solutions to improve people’s quality of life. This paper discusses how to take advantage of the benefits of mobile devices and the vast range of information sources and services, such as traffic conditions, and narrow, closed or conditioned roads data. The proposed system uses a real-time collection, organization, and transmission of traffic and road conditions data to provide efficient and accurate information to drivers. With the purpose of supporting and improving traffic data collection and distribution, an Android application was developed to collect information about extraordinary events that take place in a city, providing warnings and alternative routes to drivers and helping them to improve their time management. The developed solution also exploits the existing gaps in other applications, implementing a more specific solution for the Madeira Island traffic condition problems. info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located along the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, is the most visited national park in the United States. This rugged, mountainous area presents many transportation challenges. The immense popularity of the Smokies and the fact that the primary mode of transportation within the park is the personal vehicle have resulted in congestion, damage to the environment, impacts on safety, and a degraded visitor experience. Access to some of the Smokies historical, cultural, and recreational attractions via a mass transit system could alleviate many of the transportation issues. Although quite a few organizations are proponents of a mass transit system for the Smokies, there is a lack of coordination among all parties. In addition, many local residents are not completely comfortable with the idea of transit in the Smokies. This document provides a brief overview of the current transportation needs and limitations in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, identifies agencies and groups with particular interests in the Smokies, and offers insights into the benefits of using Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies in the Smokies. Recommendations for the use of rural ITS transit to solve two major transportation issues are presented. Document type: Report

Abstract

International power structures present a pattern of transition, where the United States is no longer able to consolidate its power globally. The slogans of Donald Trump: “Make America great again” or “America first” are an example of the media interest of the American president in that his electors think that it’s possible to gain the lost hegemony. This article examines Donald Trump’s bilateral encounters with politicians Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Shinzō Abe, Theresa May, Justin Trudeau, Giuseppe Conte, and Jean-Claude Juncker. Meetings marked by extravagant greetings and politically out of place behaviors that seem more like a reality show than a bilateral encounter between political leaders. Using data results from Google Trends platform, we study the resonance of the meetings between Donald Trump and the heads of state of the G7 countries to examine the variations in Trump’s popularity after these meetings.