The new era for geo-information

Along with the forthcoming of Google Earth, Virtual Earth, the next generation of Internet, Web 2.0, grid computing and smart sensor web, comes the new era for geo-information. In this paper, main features of new geo-information era are discussed. This new era is characterized by these features: serviced users are extended from professionals to all public users, the users are data and information providers as well, geospatial data provided are no longer measurement-by-specification but measurement-on-demand through smart sensor web, and services are transferred from being data-driven to applicationdriven. Such problems as out-of-order issues in geographic data collection and information proliferation, quality issues in geographic information updating, security issues in geographic information services, privacy issues in sharing geographic information and property issues in sharing geographic information, which are brought about by new geo-information era, especially those confronted in geoinformation science and geo-spatial information industry, are analyzed. Then strategies concerning standards, planning, laws, technology and applications are proposed. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2004CB318206)     

Configurable processors: a new era in chip design

Over the past few decades, the microprocessor has emerged as a fixed, stand-alone, reusable block created by highly skilled specialists. Because developing good, efficient microprocessor architectures can take years, many designers have come to regard them as monolithic entities subject to change only over long time periods and after careful consideration by an anointed few. However, the rise of application-specific integrated circuit and system-on-chip (SoC) manufacturing technologies in the 1990s has laid the groundwork for a new, fourth era - that of post-RISC, configurable processors. Configurable processors enable system-on-chip designers to leverage the benefits of nanometer silicon lithography with relatively little manual effort. These processors can achieve much higher performance than processors with conventional fixed-instruction-set architectures through the addition of custom-tailored execution units, registers, and register files as well as specialized communication interface ports.     

DSL: the promising standard for new Internet era

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is the technology that enables high-speed data transfer and rapid access to the Internet via telephone lines, with a secure connection straight into the high-speed network. DSL has raised its importance in the data communication industry. This article identifies the importance of DSL in Internet age, illustrates DSL's analysis and development frameworks, and delineates future development of the DSL technology.     

Securing a new era of financial services

IT advances are bringing new speed and efficiency to financial markets. The article looks at the way in which it is possible to make wireless trading via Web services a safe proposition.     

Towards a new era for Cultural Heritage Education: Discussing the role of ICT

Living and being part of today’s Knowledge Society implies recognizing the importance of the past and imposes considering Cultural Heritage as a fundamental background of our identity.This paper investigates how ICT tools can contribute to enhancing Cultural Heritage Education. It is an attempt to answer the question concerning whether ICT can really provide any added value to Cultural Heritage pedagogy, education and learning. By focusing on those Cultural Heritage artifacts that pertain to the field of arts and archeology, the paper assumes a methodological perspective and provides examples of some of the most innovative experiences in the field, thus driving the reader to reflect on the pedagogical impact that may derive from exploiting ICT potentialities. ICT, in fact, on the one hand, offers an easier access and a multi-perspective view of Cultural Heritage artifacts, and, on the other, may also enrich and improve Cultural Heritage Education thanks to the adoption of innovative learning/teaching methods.     

加强软部件技术研究促软件工业化生产时代到来

软件复用的目标是软件能和硬件一样实现生产的分工,但实现该目录需要标准化的软部件设计。通用软部件应当是以复用为目的、以提供某一业务服务为目标、包含为应用所需要的具有互补性的多项功能程序代码。基于这样一种标准化软部件应当具有的性能,分析了目前已有的各类软件复用技术的特点,介绍了所研究的通用软部件的结构与设计方法,说明了使用软部件构建应用系统的方法及典型的应用情况。     

Is high-performance computing entering a new era?

Landmark events in high-performance computing (HPC) were regular occurrences in the latter half of 2003 and the very early days of 2004 - from expert committee cautions that the USA was failing behind in HPC investment, to new networking protocols intended to reduce latency over ultra-high-speed networks, to the world's third-fastest computer's unlikely construction and price. However, some of the field's leading figures disagree whether these developments signal a new era for HPC.     

Design for human factors (DfHF): a grounded theory for integrating human factors into production design processes

The ‘design for human factors’ grounded theory explains ‘how’ human factors (HF) went from a reactive, after-injury programme in safety, to being proactively integrated into each step of the production design process. In this longitudinal case study collaboration with engineers and HF Specialists in a large electronics manufacturer, qualitative data (e.g. meetings, interviews, observations and reflections) were analysed using a grounded theory methodology. The central tenet in the theory is that when HF Specialists acclimated to the engineering process, language and tools, and strategically aligned HF to the design and business goals of the organisation, HF became a means to improve business performance. This led to engineers ‘pulling’ HF Specialists onto their team. HF targets were adopted into engineering tools to communicate HF concerns quantitatively, drive continuous improvement, visibly demonstrate change and lead to benchmarking. Senior management held engineers accountable for HF as a key performance indicator, thus integrating HF into the production design process.

Practitioner Summary: Research and practice lack explanations about how HF can be integrated early in design of production systems. This three-year case study and the theory derived demonstrate how ergonomists changed their focus to align with design and business goals to integrate HF into the design process.     

A new era for research and development?

A cursory glance at the computer industry's spending on research and development might draw attention to individual companies' investments. In a continued tight economy, expenditures on blue-sky research might seem especially dispensable. Regardless of individual corporations' spending, experts say, the entire R&D environment is changing due to rapidly evolving technology, including converging computing and communications functions; innovative partnerships between the academic community and industry; the increasing importance of international standards bodies; and lastly, the US Congress's flurry of activity in the wake of the 11 September terror attacks. The paper considers the relationship between the academic research community and industry     

Ferguson on Facebook: Political persuasion in a new era of media effects

In 2014, media outlets deemed political satirist John Oliver's show the best of the year. Described as “the online water-cooler,” his show has become a talking point for many on social media. In this study, we tested the effects of such political comedy and the influence of social pressure in a simulated Facebook environment (N = 189). Participants in this experiment were asked to view a video clip from Oliver's show (high or low salience topic) and in two of the four conditions, a series of Facebook comments contradicting Oliver's views (as a form of social pressure) were provided. Results support a message-consistent persuasive effect of political comedy for both high and low salience issues but finds that message-incongruent commentary reduces this persuasive effect. Thus, the current study provides further insight regarding persuasive effects of sharing political information on social media and new opportunities for exposing entertainment seekers to politics.     

Fraction-free matrix factors: new forms for LU and QR factors

Gaussian elimination and LU factoring have been greatly studied from the algorithmic point of view, but much less from the point view of the best output format. In this paper, we give new output formats for fraction free LU factoring and for QR factoring. The formats and the algorithms used to obtain them are valid for any matrix system in which the entries are taken from an integral domain, not just for integer matrix systems. After discussing the new output format of LU factoring, the complexity analysis for the fraction free algorithm and fraction free output is given. Our new output format contains smaller entries than previously suggested forms, and it avoids the gcd computations required by some other partially fraction free computations. As applications of our fraction free algorithm and format, we demonstrate how to construct a fraction free QR factorization and how to solve linear systems within a given domain.     

Fraction-free matrix factors: new forms for LU and QR factors

Gaussian elimination and LU factoring have been greatly studied from the algorithmic point of view, but much less from the point view of the best output format. In this paper, we give new output formats for fraction free LU factoring and for QR factoring. The formats and the algorithms used to obtain them are valid for any matrix system in which the entries are taken from an integral domain, not just for integer matrix systems. After discussing the new output format of LU factoring, the complexity analysis for the fraction free algorithm and fraction free output is given. Our new output format contains smaller entries than previously suggested forms, and it avoids the gcd computations required by some other partially fraction free computations. As applications of our fraction free algorithm and format, we demonstrate how to construct a fraction free QR factorization and how to solve linear systems within a given domain.