Desert sounds-international broadcasting in the Arab world

The oral element of Arabic culture is much stronger than the written element so radio broadcasting was the natural medium of the Arab world. The Gulf War has highlighted the continuing importance of radio propaganda. The author describes how radio came to fill such a vital role in the Middle East     

The role of social support networks in proxy Internet use from the intergenerational solidarity perspective

Digital inequalities research has documented a set of practices related to people’s Internet use that questions the binary division between Internet users and non-users. In particular, among older adults, a considerably large group of individuals has been identified as not using the Internet by themselves; rather, they ask members of their personal networks to do things online for them—they “use” the Internet by proxy. Since previous research shows that children and grandchildren are important sources of help when it comes to Internet use, the current paper indicates that the notion of intergenerational solidarity is a sound conceptual basis for understanding the relationship between social support networks and proxy Internet use among Internet non-users. Notably, the concept of functional solidarity as a dimension of intergenerational solidarity is advanced, as this relates to the frequency of the intergenerational exchange of resources and services encompassing various types of assistance and support offered between two generations. Empirically, this paper investigates how the two types of social support networks and their characteristics are associated with proxy Internet use. The results from multivariate analyses of survey data from a nation-wide representative sample show that when comparing emotional support and socializing networks, only the latter is associated with proxy Internet use: Internet non-users who have (grand-)children in their socializing support network are more likely to engage in proxy Internet use. The results also indicate that non-users who are younger, more educated, have children, and live in urban areas are more inclined to engage in proxy Internet use, regardless of the type of social support. The findings indicate the importance of empirical investigation related to different aspects of functional solidarity, as the effects on proxy Internet use depend on the type of social support.     

The social uses of Internet in Mexico: A case study

The telecommunication sector is creating and developing new uses for information and communications technologies. In a context of services, it has become important to take into account the diversity of potential uses of telecommunication technology. The purpose of this paper is to understand how are the users built up in the case of Internet in Mexico in the frame of social diversity and the construction of a democracy.The focus will be:

• 1.To analyse the main economic and political actors that are defining the social uses of Internet in Mexico.
• 2.To describe the main services that Internet is providing to users.
• 3.To select a small sample of users in Mexico in order to apply them a questionnaire that could let us know the new patterns of behaviour and emergence of new practices.

Are these services responding to social demands in order to increase the plurality of voices and freedom of expression?     

Key nodes of the trust transitivity in social Internet of things

The trustee and the trustor may have no previous interaction experiences before. So, intermediate nodes which are trusted by both the trustor and the trustee are selected to transit trust between them. But only a few intermediate nodes are key nodes which can significantly affect the transitivity of trust. To the best of our knowledge, there are no algorithms for finding key nodes of the trust transitivity. To solve this problem, the concept of trust is presented, and a comprehensive model of the transitivity of trust is provided. Then, the key nodes search (KNS) algorithm is proposed to find out the key nodes of the trust transitivity. The KNS algorithm is verified with three real social network datasets and the results show that the algorithm can find out all the key nodes for each node in directed, weighted, and non-fully connected social Internet of things (SIoT) networks.     

The role of the standards process in shaping the Internet

This paper explores the role of the standards process in shaping the future evolution of the Internet. It addresses the industry's need to develop and deploy unique functionality and how it interacts with the communicating users' need for universally available and consistently implemented services, and the role that the standard bodies play in resolving this tension. A brief overview of the organization of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and more specifically of its operating mode to promote the emergence of new standards for the Internet, is presented. An outline of some of the main topics under discussion currently is offered. The evolution of the attendance to the IETF meetings during recent years is commented upon.     

Network management in the world of standards: The role of the snmp protocol in managing networks

SNMP has taken the network management world by storm. This article presents an in-depth tutorial on the protocol and its role in managing TCP/IP networks. Discussion of agents, MIBs and the role of the managing software are included.     

On the social role of computer communications

Computer-communication systems appear essential to meeting many needs in our society resulting from greater interdependence and complexity of operation and from rising expectations. There are, in principle, different ways of utilizing them for the same purposes, with radically different social consequences. The choice, which amounts in effect to a social decision, is, in practice, severely restricted by the computer hardware and software and by the communication facilities that happen to be available at the time. The paper discusses some of the pressures that lead to more widespread use of computers in the operation of society and illustrates how specific characteristics of computer-communication systems may influence social trends and, in particular, individual freedom.     

互联网平台在学生管理工作中的作用研究

随着互联网技术的发展,各行各业都受到了影响。互联网思维和运营模式给各行各业带来了更多便利。积极引入互联网技术是各行业改革升级的重要途径。互联网技术在高校学生管理工作方面的运用能够为其提供新的发展方向,机遇与挑战并存。文章通过对互联网背景下学生管理工作的机遇和挑战的认识,摸索符合当前时代发展的高校学生管理工作新路径。     

The role of materials in the electronics world of 2012 A.D.: Anupdate

In reviewing the predictions by G.K. Teal for 2012, I am struck most by the accuracy of his vision. The year 1962 was at the very beginning of the electronics revolution. Silicon integrated circuits were but a gleam in the eyes of a select few, yet Teal saw clearly that modern electronics would be based, fundamentally and pervasively, on “tailor-making materials starting at the atomic level”. Personally, I believe that the development of new materials and novel structures is going to be as important to the evolution of electronics over the next 15 years as it has in the past 35 years     

WAP2.0能否推动移动互联网的发展

移动通信与互联网是电信业未来发展潜力最大的两个领域,但将两者结合后,移动互联技术今后如何发展?在技术发展的同时,也不能忽视移动互联业务,WAP2.0能否一改其前身——WAP1.0的劣势?BREW与J2ME争战的结果将是怎样,相信这些都是读者关心的问题。     

Social comparison as a double-edged sword on social media: The role of envy type and online social identity

Several studies have explored the psychological consequences of social comparison in SNS usage. This paper aims to explore the behavioral outcomes of social comparison through the underlying mechanisms of benign and malicious envy on Facebook. The paper also examines the role of online social identity in predicting benign and malicious envy. Based on multi-wave data collected from 469 Facebook users in Pakistan, we found that Facebook user's social comparison provoked benign and malicious envy; benign envy, in turn, triggered self-improvement intention, and malicious envy triggered negative gossiping. Moreover, user's online social identity moderated the social comparison-envy relationship such that the positive relationship of social comparison and benign envy was stronger, and the positive relationship of social comparison and malicious envy was weaker when the user's online social identity was high. The study contributes to social media literature by examining the behavioral outcomes of social comparison on social media and discusses empirical implications for policymakers, advertisers, SNS providers, SNS designers, educators, and users.     

Investigating the relationship between workplace conflict and employee agility: The role of enterprise social media

The current research aims to investigate the relationship between workplace conflict and employee agility in firms that adopt enterprise social media (ESM). Using the information processing perspective, this study proposes a model for examining how task conflict and relationship conflict relate to employee agility and how ESM moderates these relationships. The regression analysis results are based on 161 respondents who adopted ESM in the workplace, and are used to examine the impact of task and relationship conflict on employee agility. The results show that relationship conflict has a U-shaped curvilinear relationship with employee agility. Conversely, the association between task conflict and employee agility is has an inverted U-shaped relationship. Moreover, the link between task conflict and employee agility is moderated by ESM usage, such that the curvilinear relationship is weakened by ESM usage. This study contributes to extant ESM literature by investigating workplace conflict and its role in developing employee agility in ESM environments. The findings indicate that managers should implement appropriate strategies to maintain a certain level of conflict in order to facilitate and achieve employee agility.     

The role of Internet technology in future mobile data systems

Mobile telephony and the Internet are the fastest growing businesses in the telecommunications market. This is why most operators and service providers are looking after the development of new services in both sectors, and newcomers are expected to enter the arena. The mobile operators foresee an increasing share of their revenues coming from new data services, while Internet service providers are attracted to wireless technology and mobility services both to reduce costs within the last-mile segment and to enrich their market share, providing ubiquitous access to the Internet and corporate intranets. In this scenario several wireless overlay networks will coexist, and their interworking will be a challenging objective. The employment of Internet technology, with its novel mobility and security extensions, seems to be the most attractive option for achieving that goal. In addition, the migration to a full IP network architecture, even within each specific wireless domain, will be another promising opportunity, already under consideration within several technical and standardization bodies. The envisioned role of Internet technology makes it worthwhile to undertake significant research efforts on the development of innovative IP-based mobile data systems, and opens promising opportunities for both telcos and Internet service providers.     

Digital inequalities and implications for social inequalities: A study of Internet penetration amongst university students in South Africa

International and national data sources confirm the limited access to the Internet in South Africa. However, there is a need to study how this limited access is distributed amongst population groups in the country. This study investigates the pattern of Internet access amongst university students in South Africa. University students are a relevant population group for studying technology penetration; this population is a generation born in the current era of digital revolution, they are presumably early adopters of technology and are adept in using them. A survey conducted in ten South African universities reveals that beyond publicly available access on campuses – with its attendant constraints, personal/household Internet access is a challenge and it reflects a pattern of inequalities in South Africa. Bearing in mind that social and economic exclusion is the biggest challenge for South Africa, this study reveals that digital inequalities amongst students replicate the pattern of social inequalities in the country. This exacerbates existing social inequalities, specifically amongst university students in South Africa, with certain categories of students being disproportionately disadvantaged.