Coping with information overload in email communication: Evaluation of a training intervention

The present paper introduces three facets of information overload in email communication: A large amount of incoming information, inefficient workflow, and deficient communication quality. In order to cope with these facets of information overload, a training intervention was developed and evaluated. Data were collected from 90 employees on several evaluation levels within a longitudinal evaluation design (one pretest double posttest design). The results reveal that the training contributed to an increase in knowledge and media competencies. We also found evidence for a transfer of training contents to the workplace. Finally, strain diminished on several dimensions. In particular, problems with media usage and work impairment decline significantly, an effect that was stronger for those participants who face a large amount of email at their workplaces.     

All about me: Disclosure in online social networking profiles: The case of FACEBOOK

The present research examined disclosure in online social networking profiles (i.e., FACEBOOK™). Three studies were conducted. First, a scoring tool was developed in order to comprehensively assess the content of the personal profiles. Second, grouping categories (default/standard information, sensitive personal information, and potentially stigmatizing information) were developed to examine information pertinent to identity threat, personal and group threat. Third, a grouping strategy was developed to include all information present in FACEBOOK™, but to organize it in a meaningful way as a function of the content that was presented. Overall, approximately 25% of all possible information that could potentially be disclosed by users was disclosed. Presenting personal information such as gender and age was related to disclosure of other sensitive and highly personal information. Age and relationship status were important factors in determining disclosure. As age increased, the amount of personal information in profiles decreased. Those seeking a relationship were at greatest risk of threat, and disclosed the greatest amount of highly sensitive and potentially stigmatizing information. These implications of these findings with respect to social and legal threats, and potential means for identifying users placing themselves at greatest risk, are discussed.     

Adopt,adapt, abandon: Understanding why some young adults start,and then stop,using instant messaging

Instant messaging (IM) has become a popular and important mode of staying in touch for teens and young adults. It allows for easy, frequent and lightweight interaction that contributes to building and sustaining friendships, as well as coordinating social activities. Despite the initial appeal of IM, however, some have found it too distracting and have changed their usage or abandoned it. I interviewed 21 former users of IM about their adoption, usage and eventual abandonment of the technology. Results show that participants were initially attracted to features of IM that enabled them to maximize their use of leisure time via easy and frequent interaction with their friends, but that, in a different usage context, these same features became distracting and annoying. Participants adapted their behavior to avoid these drawbacks, but IM did not support these adaptations effectively. In particular, IM did not allow for control over interruptions, which became more important as their contact lists grew and social time became scarce; and they ultimately abandoned the technology. These results point to a need for understanding use beyond adoption, and a theoretical and practical focus on understanding the adaptation and changing utility that accompany long-term usage of technologies.     

Towards a web-based progressive handwriting recognition environment for mathematical problem solving

The emergence of pen-based mobile devices such as PDAs and tablet PCs provides a new way to input mathematical expressions to computer by using handwriting which is much more natural and efficient for entering mathematics. This paper proposes a web-based handwriting mathematics system, called WebMath, for supporting mathematical problem solving. The proposed WebMath system is based on client–server architecture. It comprises four major components: a standard web server, handwriting mathematical expression editor, computation engine and web browser with Ajax-based communicator. The handwriting mathematical expression editor adopts a progressive recognition approach for dynamic recognition of handwritten mathematical expressions. The computation engine supports mathematical functions such as algebraic simplification and factorization, and integration and differentiation. The web browser provides a user-friendly interface for accessing the system using advanced Ajax-based communication. In this paper, we describe the different components of the WebMath system and its performance analysis.     

虚拟计算机网络组网与通信研究

虚拟实验室的出现打破了传统实验教学模式的局限性,为实验教学模式的突破性发展提供了契机,大大提高了实验教学的伸缩性和适应性。该文设计了虚拟实验教学中计算机网络的组网,对相关通信问题进行了深入探讨,希望能够对相关研究提供一些参考。     

关于第三代通信系统的探索

移动通信是世界电信领域中发展最迅速,前景最广阔的技术,是通讯技术向信息时代全面发展的一个重要标志。建立在全球移动综合业务基础上的第三代通信系统(3rd Generation,简称为3G),为移动多媒体带来高速的数据传输带宽、完善的移动终端,同时提供多种优质的语音和非语音业务,是未来电信领域的发展方向,该文将对第三代通信系统的发展概况、结构、定位等做粗浅探索。     

混沌系统在网络保密通信中的应用方法

混沌保密通信是当今研究信息安全的热门课题之一。该文就混沌系统应用于保密通信的基本理论,编码方式和密钥等内容作一简要讨论,并采用一次一密密码机制,用Lorenz系统的混沌输出作为密钥对文本文件进行加密和解密。这种一次一密加密方式具有很强的抗破译性。