Can the friend of my friend be my enemy?

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Just as humans can follow complex social situations in deciding who to befriend or to abandon, it turns out that animals use the same level of sophistication in judging social configurations, according to a new study that advances our understanding of the structure of animal social networks.

The study, which appears today in the journal Animal Behaviour, is the first in which researchers applied a long-standing theory in social psychology called "structural balance," which is used to analyze human relationships, to an animal population to better understand the mechanisms that determine the structure of animal social groups. Researchers analyzed social bonds in behavioral data from a long-term study of the rock hyrax, a small mammal that lives in colonies across Africa and the Middle East.

Structural balance theory considers the positive or negative ties between three individuals, or triads, and suggests that "the friend of my enemy is my enemy" triangle is more stable and should be more common than "the friend of my friend is my enemy" triangle. Another configuration, "the friend of my friend is my friend," is considered to also be a stable configuration in the social network. The last possible triangle, "the enemy of my enemy is my enemy," presages an unstable state, according to the theory.

The potential power of structural balance theory is its ability to predict patterns in the structure of the whole social network and also predict changes that occur over time, as unstable triads are expected to change to stable ones.

"We all live in social networks of some kind, either online or offline, and we are interested in understanding how these groups form and dissolve and their internal dynamics, but while studying these human dynamics is important, it's also very difficult and in many cases impractical. So we study how sociality evolved in animals, which might offer us some insights into our own social behavior. And indeed, the structural balance theory that was developed to study human behavior appears to be relevant in animals as well," said the study's lead author Amiyaal Ilany, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis.

In the study, the hyraxes tended to form balanced triads and changed unbalanced triads to balanced triads over time. However, new individuals in the population ? new pups or males that migrate into the network ? introduced social instability by often forming unbalanced triads, causing the network as a whole to retain some level of instability. The study also found that contrary to classical structural balance theory, the "enemy of my enemy is my enemy" configuration was actually a stable configuration. The results suggest that structural balance may play a role in the evolution of social structures by selecting against specific configurations. Structural balance may also serve as a psychological mechanism that allows specific social structures to exist and that prevents cooperation between members of different groups.

The authors suggest that structural balance may be prevalent in other species as well.

"The results indicated that changes in social relationships are dependent not only on two individuals, but significantly on third parties, which underscores the importance of structural balance theory in explaining the evolution of complex natural social systems," Ilany said, who was a doctoral student at Tel Aviv University when the research was begun.

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National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS): http://www.nimbios.org/

Thanks to National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127867/Can_the_friend_of_my_friend_be_my_enemy_

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Social Media ? The Ultimate Experience in Customer Service

What do your ?Likes? mean to you? When we ?like? our favorite product on Facebook, we?re not simply telling everyone in digital land what our interests include. No: what we expect from those ?Likes? is the interpersonal relationships we experience every day with comments, shares, pokes, and whatsits. ?Liking? a brand on Facebook means a lot more to us when companies are willing to reciprocate.

This is what we expect ? but are the companies behind our favorite products willing to give us what we want? Some go to great lengths to interact on a personal level with the customers, but others seem content to wile away their posts with trivial product details or self-serving advertisements and promotions.

For many businesses, direct communication with the social media audience is infrequent or rare. A Facebook user is operating on Facebook time ? we expect a response within 24 hours. The average tweeter expects a response within two hours of sending a tweet. If your brand isn?t grokking this reality, you could potentially lose your followers? interest ? and, more importantly, their trust. Lost trust = lost business.

Social media isn?t just an easy way to get recognized ? it?s a means to connect with your customers on a level that traditional advertising and engagement methods simply can?t provide. Can a magazine ad talk or interact with your customer? No. Through social media, businesses are able to develop trust and customer faith in a way that was never possible without it.

Just recently, Jet Blue released a YouTube video that explained that a major snowstorm was causing flight delays. The surprising thing about the video? The company?s CEO made it himself. This level of dedication is what causes your customer to trust in you and continue their patronage. Like the song goes, ?in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.?

Providing genuine customer service takes real commitment ? and these days, no business can really afford to have a customer service strategy that ignores social media. Whether you have an in-house team or you rely on the services of a capable Internet marketing company to manage your brand?s social media engagement, your company is responsible for guaranteeing some level of personal engagement with consumers that choose to reach out to you.

Lately, Nintendo has been connecting with their clients through a series of web videos that discusses recent developments in the company and announcements of future releases. These videos are pleasant, informative, and genuinely interesting. This kind of strategy makes your customers feel like they?re being let in on your brand?s secrets ? and helps them to understand the time and effort that goes into producing the best possible products for their hard-earned money.

Make sure you read what people say when they reach out to you through social media. They want quick responses to their problems, complaints and compliments alike. But most important of all, they want to have fun with you. If someone tweets a joke your way, you want to joke right back.

Another thing: a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. Why not send a silly tweet to one of your competitors? It shows the personality behind the brand ? and that?s what today?s consumers like to see.

The spirit guiding today?s customer service is promptness and amicability. Through social media, customers receive help or attention so intimate that it feels no different than walking next door to trouble a neighbor for a cup of sugar. They want that familiar feeling. They want to trust you. If you aren?t using social media to develop this level of trust, then you aren?t doing it right.

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Source: http://soshable.com/social-media-the-ultimate-experience-in-customer-service/

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Myanmar cancels Davis Cup events over security concerns

(Reuters) - Myanmar has decided to opt out of hosting two Davis Cup events due to security concerns following last month's anti-Muslim riots, the head of the country's tennis association said on Tuesday.

Myanmar was to host the 2013 Asia/Oceania Zone Group III and IV events from April 22-May 5 in Yangon where 19 nations were set to take part.

Sectarian violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar killed 43 people last month. Thousands, mostly Muslims, were driven from their homes and businesses as bloodshed spread across the Southeast Asian country.

"The government informed us on April 13 that we will need to postpone the events due to security reasons," Aung Maw Thein, president of the Tennis Federation of Myanmar, told Reuters.

"While the sports ministry did not divulge the details, I think it was because of last month's problems."

Players from a number of Muslim countries like Malaysia, Bahrain and Iraq were scheduled to play in the event and the International Tennis Federation has not yet decided on alternative dates and a venue.

The world governing body could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/myanmar-cancels-davis-cup-events-over-security-concerns-122211562--ten.html

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Man Arrested For "Mr. Right" T-Shirt, Refusal to Leave Park

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Sysadmin Toolbox: Advanced Setup For SoftAmbulance Partition ...

System administrators, or sysadmins, usually have an array of tools at their service in case something goes wrong with a computer system. These are sometimes referred to as a Sysadmin Toolbox. Today's technology makes it possible to keep these tools and a USB flash drive. Having software that can do a partition scan or map a virtual partition should be in a sysadmin toolbox.

Keeping a computer-based system up and running is more than creating a backup once in a while. Periodic checks can ensure they are, before a system crash can happen.

Partition Doctor is able to create periodic images of each drive, and partition, so sysadmins can map a virtual partition and get a system back running after it crashes.

Sysadmin tools are one of the best things to come along for any system administrator. Having the essentials to get business computer-based systems up and running again, in the shortest time possible, is their goal.

Adding software that will do a partition scan for potential errors should be a necessity. It is safer to take action before the crash than after. If something does create the system to crash, having the partition doctor software will allow a system administrator to recover important data.

Losing file and data due to a system crash, lost or damaged system files, or a defective hard drive not wanting to boot to Windows, can mean losing a business sometimes. Being able to recover these safely should be a priority for anyone.

Partition Doctor creates a virtual image of any crashed, or inaccessible, hard drive, along with any files and data it

contains. Using this, it gives the user the ability to see, then choose, which data they would like recovered.

Sysadmins tools should include partition doctor not only to map a virtual partition for other systems to use, but to also recover lost or damaged data files due to a hard drive crash. A partition scan shows where any errors in the virtual partition. The system administrator can then take appropriate action to repair lost partitions and data.

Important data files should not be left up to chance. Any sysadmin toolbox should include software, like Partition Doctor, in order to do partitions scans to, hopefully, protects any damage to data a files beforehand.

Sysadmins can map a virtual partition and save it to external storage devices such as flash drives or CD's with Partition Doctor. If a crash to the business' computer system does occur, the business can be back to business by running the software from the external devices.

Do not leave your data and files up to chance. Following the link in the resource box below allows you to try partition doctor for free. Any system administrator will see that this is the data recovery software that should be included in their sysadmin toolbox. Data lost from a crash, especially data for a business, is imperative to be able to recover. Adding partition doctor to map a virtual partition or perform partition scans is the answer to saving that data.

If you are looking for SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor, click on the link. Or you can visit http://softambulance.com/info/power_search_virtual_partitions.php today!

If you are looking for SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor, click on the link. Or you can visit http://softambulance.com/info/power_search_virtual_partitions.php today!

Source: http://www.articlesbd.com/articles/346371/1/Sysadmin-Toolbox-Advanced-Setup-For-SoftAmbulance-Partition-Doctor/Page1.html

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FAA furloughs starts, so do airport delays

Commercial airline flights started backing up and delayed some travelers Monday, a day after air traffic controllers started going on furlough because of government spending cuts.

Information from the FAA and others showed that flying Sunday was largely uneventful, with most flights on time. There were delays in parts of Florida, but those were caused by thunderstorms.

Mark Duell at the flight tracking website FlightAware said that John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York indicated delays due to lower staffing starting late Sunday evening. The FAA website said that flights from Philadelphia and Orlando, Fla., into John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Westchester County airports were delayed due to staffing issues.

The trade group Airlines for America, which represents the airlines and had predicted a big traffic snarl, said Sunday evening that it was "not seeing a significant impact at this point." A spokeswoman said the group would continue to monitor the situation, and urged flyers to stay in contact with their airlines.

Delays were also affecting travelers in Los Angeles. The FAA said late Sunday night that staffing cuts were causing delays averaging more than three hours for flights arriving at Los Angeles International Airport. The agency did not say how many flights were affected.

Airport spokesman Marshall Lowe said about 70 flights had delays of about an hour or more Sunday, but he could not say what role the staffing cuts played in the delays.

The FAA said that "relatively good weather" and light traffic, which is typical of Sundays, helped keep delays in check. The agency said it would be working with airlines "to minimize the delay impacts of lower staffing" as the busy summer travel season approaches.

Government budget cuts that kicked in last month are forcing the FAA and other agencies to cut their spending. FAA officials have said they have no choice but to furlough all 47,000 agency employees, including nearly 15,000 controllers. Each employee will lose one day of work every other week. The FAA has said that planes will have to take off and land less frequently, so as not to overload the remaining controllers on duty.

Airline trade groups and the country's biggest pilots union sued the FAA on Friday to try to stop the furloughs. They predicted that the furloughs would delay or cancel flights for as many as one out of every three airline passengers across the country. Airlines have also directed their customers to tell the FAA to find other ways to cut costs.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/faa-furloughs-kick-flight-delays-000559405.html

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Space collisions expected to rise

22 April 2013 Last updated at 11:10 ET By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

Unless space debris is actively tackled, some satellite orbits will become extremely hazardous over the next 200 years, a new study suggests.

The research found that catastrophic collisions would likely occur every five to nine years at the altitudes used principally to observe the Earth.

And the scientists who did the work say their results are optimistic - the real outcome would probably be far worse.

To date, there have been just a handful of major collisions in the space age.

The study was conducted for the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee.

This is the global forum through which world governments discuss the issue of "space junk" - abandoned rocket stages, defunct satellites and their exploded fragments.

The space agencies of Europe, the US, Italy, the UK, Japan and India all contributed to the latest research, each one using their own experts and methodology to model the future space environment.

Simulated futures

They were most concerned with low-Earth orbit (that is, below 2,000km in altitude). This is where the majority of missions returning critical Earth-observation data tend to operate.

All six modelling groups came out with broadly the same finding - a steady increase in the numbers of objects 10cm and bigger over the 200-year period.

This growth was driven mostly by collisions between objects at altitudes between 700km and 1,000km.

The low-end projection was for a 19% increase; the high-end forecast was for a 36% rise. Taken together, the growth was 30%. These are averages of hundreds of simulations.

For the cumulative number of catastrophic collisions over the period, the range went from just over 20 to just under 40.

Somewhat worryingly, the forecasting work made some optimistic assumptions.

One was a 90% compliance with the "25-year rule". This is a best-practice time-limit adopted by the world's space agencies for the removal of their equipment from orbit once it has completed its mission.

The other was the idea that there would be no more explosions from half-empty fuel and pressure tanks, and from old batteries - a significant cause of debris fragments to date.

Concept development

"We're certainly not at 90% compliance with the 25-year rule yet, and we see explosion events on average about three times a year," explained Dr Hugh Lewis, who detailed the research findings at the 6th European Conference on Space Debris in Darmstadt, Germany, on Monday.

"It is fair to say this is an optimistic look forward, and the situation will be worse than what we presented in the study," the UK Space Agency delegate to the IADC told BBC News.

"So one message from our study is that we need to do better with these debris-mitigation measures, but even with that we need to consider other approaches as well. One of the options obviously is active debris removal."

Research groups around the world are devising strategies to catch old rocket bodies and satellites, to pull them out of orbit.

Previous modelling work has indicated that removing just a few key items each year could have a significant limiting effect on the growth of debris.

Most ideas include attaching a propulsion module to a redundant body, perhaps via a hook or robotic clamp.

Harpoon idea

One UK concept under development is a harpoon. This would be fired at the hapless target from close range.

A propulsion pack tethered to the projectile would then tug the junk downwards, to burn up in the atmosphere.

When the BBC first reported this concept back in October, the harpoon was being test-fired over a short range of just 2m.

The latest testing, to be reported at the Darmstadt conference this week, has seen the harpoon fired over a much longer distance and at a more realistic, rotating target.

"Our tests have progressed really well, and everything seems to be scaling as expected," explained Dr Jaime Reed, from Astrium UK.

"We've now upgraded to a much more powerful gun and have been firing the harpoon over 10m - the sort of distance we'd expect to have to cover on a real debris-removal mission.

"Our harpoon also now has a shock absorber on it to make sure it doesn't go too far inside the satellite, and we've been firing it with the tether attached. It's very stable in flight."

Chinese test

There are some 20,000 man-made objects in orbit that are currently being monitored regularly. About two-thirds of this population is in Low-Earth orbit.

These are just the big, easy-to-see items, however. Moving around unseen are an estimated 500,000 particles ranging in size between 1-10cm across, and perhaps tens of millions of other particles smaller than 1cm.

All of this material is travelling at several kilometres per second - sufficient velocity for even the smallest fragment to become a damaging projectile if it strikes an operational space mission.

Two key events have added significantly to the debris problem in recent years.

The first was the destructive anti-satellite test conducted by the Chinese in 2007 on one of their own retired weather spacecraft.

The other, in 2009, was the collision between the Cosmos 2251 and Iridium 33 satellites.

Taken together, these two events essentially negated all the mitigation gains that had been made over the previous 20 years to reduce junk production from spent rocket explosions.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22253966#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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