The Handbook on Socially Interactive Agents provides a comprehensive overview of the research fields of Embodied Conversational Agents, Intelligent Virtual Agents, and Social Robotics. Socially Interactive Agents (SIAs), whether virtually or physically embodied, are autonomous agents that are able to perceive an environment including people or other agents, reason, decide how to interact, and express attitudes such as emotions, engagement, or empathy. They are capable of interacting with people and one another in a socially intelligent manner using multimodal communicative behaviors, with the goal to support humans in various domains. Written by international experts in their respective fields, the book summarizes research in the many important research communities pertinent for SIAs, while discussing current challenges and future directions. The handbook provides easy access to modeling and studying SIAs for researchers and students, and aims at further bridging the gap between the research communities involved. In two volumes, the book clearly structures the vast body of research. The first volume starts by introducing what is involved in SIAs research, in particular research methodologies and ethical implications of developing SIAs. It further examines research on appearance and behavior, focusing on multimodality. Finally, social cognition for SIAs is investigated using different theoretical models and phenomena such as theory of mind or pro-sociality. The second volume starts with perspectives on interaction, examined from different angles such as interaction in social space, group interaction, or long-term interaction. It also includes an extensive overview summarizing research and systems of human-agent platforms and of some of the major application areas of SIAs such as education, aging support, autism, and games.

Understand Bitcoin, Blockchains, and Cryptocurrency "Antony helps us all clearly understand the mechanics of bitcoin and blockchain." Rob Findlay, Founder, Next Money #1 Best Seller in Investing Derivatives and Natural Resource Extraction Industry, Futures Trading, Banks & Banking, Energy & Mining, Monetary Policy, and Computers & Technology There's a lot written on cryptocurrency and blockchains. But, for the uninitiated, most of this information can be indecipherable. The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains provides a clear guide to this new currency and the revolutionary technology that powers it. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. Gain an understanding of a broad spectrum of Bitcoin topics including the history of Bitcoin, the Bitcoin blockchain, and Bitcoin buying, selling, and mining. Learn how payments are made, and how to put a value on cryptocurrencies and digital tokens. Blockchain technology. What exactly is a blockchain, how does it work, and why is it important? The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains answers these questions and more. Learn about notable blockchain platforms, smart contracts, and other important facets of blockchains and their function in the changing cyber-economy. Things to know before buying cryptocurrencies. Find trustworthy and balanced insights into Bitcoin investing and investing in other cryptocurrency. Discover the risks and mitigations, learn how to identify scams, and understand cryptocurrency exchanges, digital wallets, and regulations. Learn about: Blockchain technology and how it works Workings of the cryptocurrency market Evolution and potential impacts of Bitcoin and blockchains on global businesses You've read books such as Blockchain Bubble or Revolution, Cryptoassets, Blockchain Technology Explained, Blockchain Revolution, The Bitcoin Standard, Mastering Bitcoin, or Bitcoin For Dummies, but to really understand the technology read The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains.

Online social media have transformed the face of human interaction in the 21st century. Wikis, blogs, online groups and forums, podcasts, virtual worlds, and social tagging are but a few of the applications enabling innovative behaviors that support acquisition, access, manipulation, retrieval, and visualization of information. It is, therefore, no surprise that educational practitioners and theorists have begun to explore how social media can be harnessed to describe and implement new paradigms for communication, learning, and education.

The editors' goal in publishing this book was to identify original research on the application of online social media and related technologies in education as well as emerging applications in Web technologies that could provide and shape future educational platforms. The selected contributions deal with questions such as how social media can truly enrich and enhance learning and teaching experiences in ways not otherwise possible; how learning can be integrated in a distributed and ubiquitous social computing environment; or what theories, paradigms, and models are applicable for the support of social computing in education. Researchers in education or educational software will find interesting and sometimes provocative chapters on paradigms and methodologies, virtual and mobile learning spaces, and assessment and social factors. Practitioners in these fields will benefit from an additional section devoted to case studies and first experience reports.

This book presents the first paradigm of social multimedia computing completely from the user perspective. Different from traditional multimedia and web multimedia computing which are content-centric, social multimedia computing rises under the participatory Web2.0 and is essentially user-centric. The goal of this book is to emphasize the user factor in facilitating effective solutions towards both multimedia content analysis, user modeling and customized user services. Advanced topics like cross-network social multimedia computing are also introduced as extensions and potential directions along this research line.

The main objective of this book is to provide a multidisciplinary overview of methodological approaches, architectures, platforms, and algorithms for the realization of an Internet of Things (IoT)-based Smart Urban Ecosystem (SUE). Moreover, the book details a set of real-world applications and case studies related to specific smart infrastructures and smart cities, including structural health monitoring, smart urban drainage networks, smart grids, power efficiency, healthcare, city security, and emergency management. A Smart Urban Ecosystem (SUE) is a people-centric system of systems that involves smart city environments, applications, and infrastructures. SUEs require the close integration of cyber and physical components for monitoring, understanding and controlling the urban environment. In this context, the Internet of Things (IoT) offers a valuable enabling technology, as it bridges the gap between physical things and software components, and empowers cooperation between distributed, pervasive, and heterogeneous entities.

Each consumer now has the power to be a journalist, reviewer, and whistle blower. The prevalence of social media has made it possible to alter a brand's reputation with a single viral post, or spark a political movement with a hashtag. This new landscape requires a strategic plasticity and careful consideration of how the public will react to an organization's actions. Participation in social media is mandatory for a brand's success in this highly competitive online era. Managing Public Relations and Brand Image through Social Media provides the latest research and theoretical framework necessary to find ease in the shifting public relations and reputation management worlds. It provides an overview of the tools and skills necessary to deftly sidestep public affronts and to effectively use online outlets to enhance an organization's visibility and reputation. This publication targets policy makers, website developers, students and educators of public relations, PR and advertising professionals, and organizations who wish to better understand the effects of social media.

Fifty years ago, the political whistle-stop tour was thus named because trains blew their whistles twice when making unscheduled stops in backwater towns. Like its distant cousin, the "electronic" whistle-stop brings the candidate's message directly to the people, but with one outstanding difference: the new whistle-stop offers politicians an accuracy, efficiency, and success at voter persuasian unimaginable to by earlier whistle-stoppers such as Harry Truman.

As Selnow shows, American political campaigns have an extraordinary affinity for electronic devices. They have seized upon electronic bulletin boards, home pages, and electronic libraries. Since political campaigns are communication campaigns, Selnow concludes that candidates who successfully inform, persuade, enlighten, and even confuse voters will win votes. Selnow also examines the debate between those who argue that new technologies have improved efficiency and those who believe that the innovations have affected society in other ways. Scholars and students of American political communication must read this book; the lively style will also make it exciting reading for anyone interested in this new political tool.

Technological advances in the field of IT lead to the creation of new programs intended to merge the advantages of desktop-based programs with the advantages of Web-based programs in order to increase user accessibility and provide effective computer performance. Frameworks, Methodologies, and Tools for Developing Rich Internet Applications presents current research and analysis on the use of JavaScript and software development to establish new programs intended for the Web. With an in-depth look at computer and Web programming, this publication emphasizes the benefits and dynamic qualities of these emerging technologies. This book is an essential reference source for academicians, researchers, students, practitioners, and professionals interested in understanding and applying the advances in the combined fields of Web engineering and desktop programming in order to increase computer users' visual experience and interactivity.

Language teachers, social studies teachers, and school library media specialists will find this resource invaluable for providing lessons and activities in critical thinking for students in grades 7-12. It is filled with over 200 primary source Internet sites covering the Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, and Latin languages. Each Web site will help reinforce language skills while providing students with interactive lessons on the unique culture of the peoples who speak the language. The next best thing to visiting the country itself

For each of the 56 primary Web sites, a site summary is given describing its contents and usefulness to teachers and school library media specialists. Site subjects may include: a country's radio or news program; the history of a country and its visual arts, including museums; foods eaten by the people who speak this language and recipes on how to prepare them; ceremonies, customs, and sports enjoyed; geography of the countries who speak this language; and sites to help practice the language itself. Following are a list of questions and activities which students can prepare orally or in written form, and at least four more related Web sites are provided for further study. Using this book will not only help students increase their language skills, but it will also open up the entire culture, to enable students to experience it just as if they were visiting

Social networks and online communities are reshaping the way people communicate, both in their personal and professional lives. What makes some succeed and others fail? What draws a user in? What makes them join? What keeps them coming back? Entrepreneurs and businesses are turning to user experience practitioners to figure this out. Though they are well-equipped to evaluate and create a variety of interfaces, social networks require a different set of design principles and ways of thinking about the user in order to be successful.

Design to Thrive presents tried and tested design methodologies, based on the author s decades of research, to ensure successful and sustainable online communities -- whether a wiki for employees to share procedures and best practices or for the next Facebook. The book describes four criteria, called"RIBS," which are necessary to the design of a successful and sustainable online community. These concepts provide designers with the tools they need to generate informed creative and productive design ideas, to think proactively about the communities they are building or maintaining, and to design communities that encourage users to actively contribute.
Provides essential tools to create thriving social networks, helping designers to avoid common pitfalls, avoid costly mistakes, and to ensure that communities meet client needs

Contains real world stories from popular, well known communities to illustrate how the concepts work

Features a companion online network that employs the techniques outlined in the book "

This title explores research on new techniques for the virtual enterprise operation, and has opened up new ideas on the design principles and operation approaches in order to maximize benefits and overcome limitations.

'Is private regulation of the Internet over? Have states taken over?' This book examines the function of self-regulation in cyberspace. It argues that contrary to what is often supposed in the literature, self-regulation is still an indispensable part of regulation of the Internet and will arguably remain so. It is intricately woven into the mesh of rules that governs the Internet today. Private regulation fills substantive or procedural gaps where no state regulation exists or where it is incomplete or ineffective, thus complementing the reach of state regulation. Simultaneously, states supply legal (and financial) frameworks that enable or complement self-regulation. In practice, often unknown to users, their behaviour is regulated by intertwined rules coming from both states and private groups. While each source of rules retains its identity and regulatory strengths, it is dependent on and complementary to the rules and processes of the other to effectively regulate Internet activities. Dr. Jeanne P. Mifsud Bonnici is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Law, Information and Converging Technologies, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. This is Volume 16 in the Information Technology and Law (IT&Law) Series

This is an edited volume that develops a common understanding of the various technologies intended to facilitate the automation of mediation, choreography and discovery for Web Services using semantic annotations. The volume explores trade-offs among existing approaches, and reveals strengths and weaknesses of proposed approaches, as well as which aspects of the problem are not yet covered. The book is designed for a professional audience composed of practitioners and researchers in industry. Professionals can use it to evaluate SWS technology for their potential practical use. The book is also suitable for advanced-level students in computer science.

Web information systems engineering resolves the multifaceted issues of Web-based systems development; however, as part of an emergent yet prolific industry, Web site quality assurance is a continually adaptive process needing a comprehensive reference tool to merge all cutting-edge research and innovations. ""Handbook of Research on Web Information Systems Quality"" integrates invaluable research on the models, measures, and methodologies of Web information systems, software quality, and Web engineering into one practical guide to Web information systems quality, making this handbook of research an essential addition to all library collections.

The prominence of social media, especially in the lives of teenagers and young adults, has long been regarded as a significant distraction from studies. However, the integration of these forms of media into the teaching experience can improve the engagement of students. Global Perspectives on Social Media in Tertiary Learning and Teaching: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential scholarly publication that embeds innovative, current pedagogical practices into new and redeveloped courses and introduces digital and online learning tools to best support teaching practices. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics including collaborative learning, innovative learning environments, and blended teaching, this book provides essential research for educators, educational administrators, education stakeholders, academicians, researchers, and professionals within the realm of higher education.