Archive for March, 2008

Game Theory - Not Applicable In All Situations

        In this article, the author describes the entrance of a new competitor into the mobile market.  In particular, in Great Britain, a new company, Hutchison 3G has attempted to break into the ultra-competitive wireless communications industry.  However, as expected, they have had a considerable amount of difficulty persuading customers to leave their […]

Posted in Topics: Education, General, Mathematics, Technology, social studies

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“A Balance More Replete”: Structural Balance and Dénouements

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a play or novel or film nearing its conclusion must be in want of a dénouement.
Well, perhaps not universally acknowledged, but whether or not we know the term for it we expect the play we see or the story we read to come to a certain completion: plots […]

Posted in Topics: Education

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What does it mean to “win” on eBay?

In class, we’ve talked about auctions and specifically about Second Price Auctions.  As it says in our textbook, “The auction form use on eBay is essentially a second-price auction” and this makes sense.  On eBay, the winner at the end pays only the 2nd highest bid since eBay will incrementally increase your bid until it […]

Posted in Topics: Education

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Independent Thinkers Cowork

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/business/businessspecial2/20cowork.html?pagewanted=1&sq=networking&st=nyt&scp=19
 
Coworking (no hyphen) has become a new social phenomenon that are emerging across the country. It is where someone creates an office and rents out desks to professionals who have different jobs but who share the same values.  Coworking sites are not only meant to be a solutions for professionals who work independently like entrepreneurs, […]

Posted in Topics: Education

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Structural Imbalance in Apartment 319

Problems always arise when people live in close proximity to one another. Even the closest of friends often find fault with each other’s habits and routines if they’re around one another enough. In my own apartment, this is certainly the case, though the number of conflicts has increased substantially this semester. I […]

Posted in Topics: Education

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Mathematical Simulation Of Election In Democracy - India and USA

http://kedarsoman.wordpress.com/2007/05/27/mathematical-simulation-of-election-in-democracy-india-and-usa/
            This article is about game theory and how it relates to democratic systems in India and the USA.  The writer describes the electoral system in the United States with respect to game theory, then goes on to extrapolate what kinds of systems would work best in India.  In democracy, the votes are considered random […]

Posted in Topics: Education

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The Traveler’s Dilemma

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=7750A576-
E7F2-99DF-3824E0B1C2540D47&ref=rss
The link above leads to a very well known game, much like the Prisoner’s Dilemma, created by Cornell University professor Kaushik Basu. The problem is as follows: Two people are returning home from vacation on a plane and both have brought back with them an identical souvenir. Upon arriving at the airport after their trip, […]

Posted in Topics: Education

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Gaza Violence and Its Connection to Game Theory

 
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/28/mideast/index.html
 
This news article is mainly on reporting the escalating violence between Israel and Palestine.  The news article reports that Israel has launched an air-strike in response to the rocket attacks from militants of Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas.  The Israeli air-force targeted Gaza in attempt to terminate the Palestinian terrorist group, which resulted in death of […]

Posted in Topics: General

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Embargo on Cuba

http://www.antiwar.com/henderson/?articleid=12395 The following article describes the embargo the United States has imposed on Cuba.  Cuba, holding its position as a communist nation, has been suffering long economic and social grief for the past 48 years.  With the embargo in place, America has forced the Cuban people into a worse economic dilemma.  Although America has created this […]

Posted in Topics: Education

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Prisoners Dilemma Played an Unknown Number of Times

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tit_for_tat
On homework 2, we were asked to consider the Prisoner’s Dilemma where it was played twice, and both players knew that the game was to be placed twice. The optimal solution for both players was to confess both games. Now, what would happen if the players were told that the game […]

Posted in Topics: Education

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