While transitioning from autocracy to democracy, media in Africa has always played an important role in democratic and non-democratic states; focusing on politicians, diplomats, activists, and others who work towards political transformations. New Media Influence on Social and Political Change in Africa addresses the development of new mass media and communication tools and its influence on social and political change. While analyzing democratic transitions and cultures with a theoretical perspective, this book also presents case studies and national experiences for media, new media, and democracy scholars and practitioners.

In plain, uncomplicated language, and using detailed examples to explain the key concepts, models, and algorithms in vertical search ranking, "Relevance Rankingfor Vertical Search Engines" teaches readers how to manipulate ranking algorithms to achieve better results in real-world applications.

This reference book for professionalscovers concepts and theories from the fundamental to the advanced, such as relevance, query intention, location-based relevance ranking, and cross-property ranking. It covers the most recent developments in vertical search ranking applications, such as freshness-based relevance theory for new search applications, location-based relevance theory for local search applications, and cross-property ranking theory for applications involving multiple verticals.
Foreword by Ron Brachman, Chief Scientist and Head, Yahoo LabsIntroduces ranking algorithms and teaches readers how to manipulate ranking algorithms for the best resultsCovers concepts and theories from the fundamental to the advancedDiscusses the state of the art: development of theories and practices in vertical search ranking applicationsIncludes detailed examples, case studies and real-world situations"

With the rapid development of big data, it is necessary to transfer the massive data generated by end devices to the cloud under the traditional cloud computing model. However, the delays caused by massive data transmission no longer meet the requirements of various real-time mobile services. Therefore, the emergence of edge computing has been recently developed as a new computing paradigm that can collect and process data at the edge of the network, which brings significant convenience to solving problems such as delay, bandwidth, and off-loading in the traditional cloud computing paradigm. By extending the functions of the cloud to the edge of the network, edge computing provides effective data access control, computation, processing and storage for end devices. Furthermore, edge computing optimizes the seamless connection from the cloud to devices, which is considered the foundation for realizing the interconnection of everything. However, due to the open features of edge computing, such as content awareness, real-time computing and parallel processing, the existing problems of privacy in the edge computing environment have become more prominent. The access to multiple categories and large numbers of devices in edge computing also creates new privacy issues. In this book, we discuss on the research background and current research process of privacy protection in edge computing. In the first chapter, the state-of-the-art research of edge computing are reviewed. The second chapter discusses the data privacy issue and attack models in edge computing. Three categories of privacy preserving schemes will be further introduced in the following chapters. Chapter three introduces the context-aware privacy preserving scheme. Chapter four further introduces a location-aware differential privacy preserving scheme. Chapter five presents a new blockchain based decentralized privacy preserving in edge computing. Chapter six summarize this monograph and propose future research directions. In summary, this book introduces the following techniques in edge computing: 1) describe an MDP-based privacy-preserving model to solve context-aware data privacy in the hierarchical edge computing paradigm; 2) describe a SDN based clustering methods to solve the location-aware privacy problems in edge computing; 3) describe a novel blockchain based decentralized privacy-preserving scheme in edge computing. These techniques enable the rapid development of privacy-preserving in edge computing.

This book presents novel RIS-Based Smart Radio techniques, targeting at achieving high-quality channel links in cellular communications via design and optimization of the RIS construction. Unlike traditional antenna arrays, three unique characteristics of the RIS will be revealed in this book. First, the built-in programmable configuration of the RIS enables analog beamforming inherently without extra hardware or signal processing. Second, the incident signals can be controlled to partly reflect and partly transmit through the RIS simultaneously, adding more flexibility to signal transmission. Third, the RIS has no digital processing capability to actively send signals nor any radio frequency (RF) components. As such, it is necessary to develop novel channel estimation and communication protocols, design joint digital and RIS-based analog beamforming schemes and perform interference control via mixed reflection and transmission. This book also investigates how to integrate the RIS to legacy communication systems. RIS techniques are further investigated in this book (benefited from its ability to actively shape the propagation environment) to achieve two types of wireless applications, i.e., RF sensing and localization. The influence of the sensing objectives on the wireless signal propagation can be potentially recognized by the receivers, which are then utilized to identify the objectives in RF sensing. Unlike traditional sensing techniques, RIS-aided sensing can actively customize the wireless channels and generate a favorable massive number of independent paths interacting with the sensing objectives. It is desirable to design RIS-based sensing algorithms, and optimize RIS configurations. For the second application, i.e., RIS aided localization, an RIS is deployed between the access point (AP) and users. The AP can then analyze reflected signals from users via different RIS configurations to obtain accurate locations of users. However, this is a challenging task due to the dynamic user topology, as well as the mutual influence between multiple users and the RIS. Therefore, the operations of the RIS, the AP, and multiple users need to be carefully coordinated. A new RIS-based localization protocol for device cooperation and an RIS configuration optimization algorithm are also required. This book targets researchers and graduate-level students focusing on communications and networks. Signal processing engineers, computer and information scientists, applied mathematicians and statisticians, who work in RIS research and development will also find this book useful.

Although virtual worlds continue to grow in popularity, a substantial amount of research is needed to determine best practices in virtual spaces. The artistic community is one field where virtual worlds can be utilized to the greatest effect. New Opportunities for Artistic Practice in Virtual Worlds provides a coherent account of artistic practices in virtual worlds and considers the contribution the Second Life platform has made in a historical, theoretical, and critical context within the fields of art and technology. This volume is intended for both artists and scholars in the areas of digital art, art and technology, media arts history, virtual worlds, and games studies, as well as a broader academic audience who are interested in the philosophical implications of virtual spaces.

The Intelligent Systems Series publishes reference works and handbooksin three core sub-topic areas: Intelligent Automation, Intelligent Transportation Systems, and Intelligent Computing. They include theoretical studies, design methods, and real-world implementations and applications. The series' readership is broad, but focuses on engineering, electronics, and computer science.

Budget constraints and optimization in sponsored search auctions takes into account consideration of the entire life cycle of campaigns for researchers and developers working on search systems and ROI maximization. The highly experienced authors compiled their knowledge and experience to provide insight, algorithms and development techniques for successful optimized/constrained systems. The book presents a cutting-edge budget optimization approach that embraces three-level budget decisions in the life cycle of search auctions: allocation across markets at the system level, distribution over temporal slots at the campaign level, and real-time adjustment at the keyword level.
Delivers a systematic overview and technique for understanding budget constraints and ROI optimization in sponsored search auction systems, including algorithms and developer guides for a range of scenariosExplores effects of constraints on mechanisms, bidding and keyword strategies, and the strategies for budget optimization that developers can employAn informative reference source for both software and systems developers working in the search auctions, marketing and sales strategy optimization, services development for online marketing and advertisement, e-commerce, social and economic networking"

Social networks, particularly public ones, have become part of the fabric of how we communicate and collaborate as a society. With value from micro-level personal networking to macro-level outreach, social networking has become pervasive in people s lives and is now becoming a significant driving force in business. These new platforms have provided new approaches to many critical enterprise functions, including identifying, communicating, and gathering feedback with customers (e.g., Facebook, Ning); locating expertise (e.g., LinkedIn); providing new communication platforms (e.g., Twitter); and collaborating with a community, small or large (e.g., wikis). However, many organizations have stayed away from potential benefits of social networks because of the significant risks associated with them. This book will help an organization understand the risks present in social networks and provide a framework covering policy, training and technology to address those concerns and mitigate the risks presented to leverage social media in their organization. The book also acknowledges that many organizations have already exposed themselves to more risk than they think from social networking and offers strategies for "dialing it back" to retake control.
Defines an organization's goals for social networkingPresents the risks present in social networking and how to mitigate themExplains how to maintain continuous social networking security"