Context-aware computing utilizes information about users and/or their environments in order to provide relevant information and services. To date, however, most context-aware applications only take advantage of contexts that can either be produced on the device they are running on, or on external devices that are known beforehand. While there are many application domains where sharing context is useful and/or necessary, creating these applications is currently difficult because there is no easy way for devices to share information without 1) explicitly directing them to do so, or 2) through some form of advanced user coordination (e.g., sharing credentials and/or IP addresses, installing and running the same software). This makes these techniques useful when the need to share context is known a priori, but impractical for the one time, opportunistic encounters which make up the majority of users’ lives. To address this problem, this thesis presents the Group Context Framework (GCF), a software framework that allows devices to form groups and share context with minimal prior coordination. GCF lets devices openly discover and request context from each other. The framework then lets devices intelligently and autonomously forms opportunistic groups and work together without requiring either the application developer or the user to know of these devices beforehand. GCF supports use cases where devices only need to share information once or spontaneously. Additionally, the framework provides standardized mechanisms for applications to collect, store, and share context. This lets devices form groups and work together, even when they are performing logically separate tasks (i.e., running different applications). Through the development of GCF, this thesis identifies the conceptual and software abstractions needed to support opportunistic groups in context-aware applications. As part of our design process, we looked at current contextsharing applications, systems, and frameworks, and developed a conceptual model that identifies the most common conditions that cause users/devices to form a group. We then created a framework that supports grouping across this entire model. Through the creation of four prototype systems, we show how the ability to form opportunistic groups of devices can increase users and devices’ access to timely information and services. Finally, we had 20 developers evaluate GCF, and verified that the framework supports a wide range of existing and novel use cases. Collectively, this thesis demonstrates the utility of opportunistic groups in context-aware computing, and highlights the critical challenges that need to be addressed to make opportunistic context sharing both practical and usable in real-world settings. The contributions of this thesis are: 1. A conceptual model, based on an analysis of prior literature, which describes the conditions under which users and/or devices form and work in groups. 2. An implementation of the Group Context Framework, which highlights the software abstractions and architecture needed to support all of the group types identified in our conceptual model. 3. A demonstration of the value of opportunistic groups in context aware computing, through the creation of four major systems and numerous smaller applications. 4. A validation of GCF’s robustness, through an examination of 65 ideas submitted by 20 developers. 5. An examination of the challenges associated with utilizing opportunistic groups in context-aware applications, based on our own experiences using GCF, as well as from issues raised by developers from academia and industry.

Call number: LD2668 .R4 1967 L46

ABSTRACT In this Masters Research Report, I argue that different conceptual frameworks play a central role in influencing whether and why independent funders in South Africa choose to engage in either social justice philanthropy or traditional philanthropy. Based on documentary analysis and in-depth interviews with a sample population of independent funders and experts in the philanthropic field in South Africa, this research first puts forward a different understanding of social justice philanthropy, from a South African perspective. Based on this understanding, the research then reflects that the way in which independent funders conceptualise and operationalize the reasons why they do the work they do and their roles in relation to other development role players are the central elements that influence the nature and scope of the funding approaches, priorities and strategies that they adopt.

Since the end of the Cold War, the concepts of development and security and the rise of the security-development nexus has proven to be important and is increasingly used in policy documents by institutions and states. This thesis aims to provide insight on how security and development concepts and their nexus have been used in governments’ foreign policies. Previous research has been focused on multilateral organizations and aid officials and how they have been influenced by the security-development nexus, but a comprehensive analysis on what drives financial and political support has been limited. Therefore, there is a gap that this thesis aims to fill. Methodologically, this thesis uses a text analysis of policy frameworks published by the government of Sweden regarding aid, development cooperation and humanitarian assistance of the years 2013/14 and 2015/16. An abductive reasoning was made with the help of the chosen analytical frameworks in this study. This study concludes that Swedish policy frameworks are using redefinitions of the concepts security and development which results in more broaden use of the concepts. This use of the concepts creates clear policy frameworks, but the policy frameworks do in some passages not elaborate what kind of security that reinforces what kind of development or what kind of definition of security or development that it is referring to.  This leaves the reader with a great room for interpretation that could eventuate in many different outcomes and versions. Furthermore, security and development are presented as concepts which are mutually reinforcing each other and used in four different narratives, or nexuses, when mapping out the security-development nexus.

Com o crescimento da indústria dos jogos eletrônicos, surgem novos mercados e tecnologias. Os jogos eletrônicos da última geração exigem cada vez mais processamento e placas de vídeo mais poderosas. Uma solução que vem ganhando cada vez mais destaque é o Cloud Gaming, no qual o jogador realiza um comando e a informação é enviada e processada remotamente em uma nuvem, localizada na Internet, e que retorna com as imagens como uma sequência de vídeo para o jogador. Para melhorar a qualidade de experiência (QoE) é proposto um modelo que diminui o tempo de resposta entre o jogador e a nuvem, através de um arcabouço chamado Cloud Manager que utiliza a técnica de implementação de camadas, na camada do plano de fundo e predição de movimentos, utilizando uma matriz de predição, na camada do personagem. Para validar os resultados é utilizado um jogo de ação com ponto de vista onipresente dentro do sistema de Cloud Gaming Uniquitous. / With the growing video games industry, new markets and technologies are emerging. Electronic games of the new generation are increasingly requiring more processing and powerful video cards. The solution that is gaining more prominence is Cloud Gaming, which the player performs a command, the information is sent and processed remotely on a cloud, then the images return as a video stream back to the player using the Internet. To improve the Quality of Experience (QoE), it is proposed a model that reduces the response time between the player command and the stream of the resulting game scenes through a framework called Cloud Manager that use layer caching techniques, in the background, and future state prediction using a prediction matrix, in the character layer. To validate the results, a action game with god-view as point of view is used in a Cloud Gaming system called Uniquitous.

Este trabalho compara o desempenho e a estabilidade de dois arcabouços para o processamento de Big Data: Apache Spark e High Performance Analytics Toolkit (HPAT). A comparação foi realizada usando duas aplicações: soma dos elementos de um vetor unidimensional e o algoritmo de clusterização K-means. Os experimentos foram realizados em ambiente distribuído e com memória compartilhada com diferentes quantidades e configurações de máquinas virtuais. Analisando os resultados foi possível concluir que o HPAT tem um melhor desempenho em relação ao Apache Spark nos nossos casos de estudo. Também realizamos uma análise dos dois arcabouços com a presença de falhas. / This work compares the performance and stability of two Big Data processing tools: Apache Spark and High Performance Analytics Toolkit (HPAT). The comparison was performed using two applications: a unidimensional vector sum and the K-means clustering algorithm. The experiments were performed in distributed and shared memory environments with different numbers and configurations of virtual machines. By analyzing the results we are able to conclude that HPAT has performance improvements in relation to Apache Spark in our case studies. We also provide an analysis of both frameworks in the presence of failures.

Creative coding is the practice of writing code primarily for an expressive purpose rather than a functional one. It is mostly used in creative arts contexts. One of the most popular tools in creative coding is Processing. Processing is a desktop application and in recent years a web-based alternative named p5.js has been developed. This thesis investigates the p5.js JavaScript library. It looks at what can be accomplished with it and in which cases it might be used. The main focus is on the pros and cons of using p5.js for web graphics. Another point of focus is on how the web can be used as a creative platform with tools like p5.js. The goals are to provide an overview of p5.js and an evaluation of the p5.js library as a tool for creating interactive graphics and animations on the web. The research focuses on comparing p5.js with plain JavaScript from usability and performance perspectives and making general comparisons with other web-based frameworks for creative coding. The methods are a survey and interviews with members of creative coding communities, as well as performing coding experiments in p5.js and plain JavaScript and comparing the results and the process. The results from the coding experiments show that compared to plain JavaScript p5.js is easier to get started with, it is more intuitive, and code created in p5.js is easier to read. On the other hand, p5.js performs worse, especially when continuously drawing large amounts of elements to the screen. This is further supported by the survey and the interviews, which show that p5.js is liked for its usability, but that its performance issues and lack of advanced features mean that it is usually not considered for professional projects. The primary use case for p5.js is creating quick, visual prototypes. At the same time, the interviews show that p5.js has been used in a variety of contexts, both creative and practical. p5.js is a good library for getting started with coding creatively in the browser and is an excellent choice for experimenting and creating prototypes quickly. Should project requirements be much more advanced than that, there might be other options that will work better.

Esta pesquisa aborda a Indústria de Apoio Marítimo por meio de uma visão estratégica. Trata-se de um problema relacionado à identificação e mapeamento dos Fatores Críticos de Sucesso (FCSs). A indústria de apoio marítimo é um importante segmento da cadeia de petróleo, pois, participa desde as fases iniciais, envolvendo a prospecção de um campo, até o fim da vida útil por meio da desativação dos poços de petróleo. A presente tese se propõe a analisar a indústria de apoio marítimo, caracterizando os aspectos mais importantes e impactantes, por meio da identificação dos FCSs, desenvolvimento de um framework a partir dos FCSs para a melhoria da tomada de decisão pelas empresas e também a modelagem do mapa estratégico da indústria. Por meio de entrevistas com armador, especialistas da área, dados dos sites das empresas e anuários do setor, o estudo identificou 68 FCSs. Os fatores críticos identificados foram submetidos a 28 empresas, por meio de um questionário estruturado (escala Likert de 5 pontos). As análises, por meio de estatística descritiva e testes de correlação, identificou os FCSs mais sensíveis à indústria. Além dessa contribuição, também foi proposto um framework (Matriz de Produtividade x Competitividade) para analisar a distribuição dos FCSs e o desdobramento em estratégias relacionadas a foco em melhorias urgentes, foco na inovação, foco na captação de projetos e foco na liderança do setor. Também foi modelada uma adaptação do Mapa Estratégico da Indústria da CNI para a indústria de apoio marítimo. Por fim, os principais resultados sinalizaram a sensibilidade do setor frente às variáveis relacionadas às Políticas (Industriais/Governamentais), Financiamentos e a necessidade do desenvolvimento de Inovação em toda a cadeia de suprimentos. / This research addresses the Maritime Support Industry through a strategic vision. This is a problem related to the identification and mapping of Critical Success Factors (CSFs). The maritime support industry is an important segment of the oil chain since it participates from the early stages, involving the prospecting of a field, to the end of its useful life by deactivating the oil wells. The present thesis proposes to analyze the maritime support industry, characterizing the most important and impacting aspects, through the identification of the CSFs, development of a framework from the CSFs for the improvement of the decision making by the companies and also the modeling of the Strategic map of the industry. Through interviews with ship-owner, experts from the area, company website data and industry yearbooks, the study identified 68 CSFs. The identified critical factors were submitted to 28 companies, through a structured questionnaire (Likert scale of 5 points). The analyzes, through descriptive statistics and correlation tests, identified the most sensitive CSFs to the industry. In addition to the contribution, a framework was also proposed for the analysis of the distribution of CSFs and the focus on urgent improvements, focus on innovation, focus on project capture and focus on sector leadership. An analysis was also made of the CNI\'s Industry Strategic Map for the Maritime Support Industry. Finally, the main results showed a sensitivity of the sector to the variables related to policies (industrial / governmental), finance and the need to develop innovation throughout the supply chain.

Current Audio-Video (A-V) players are limited to pausing, resuming, selecting and viewing a single video stream of a live broadcast event that is orchestrated by a professional director. The main objective of this research is to investigate how to create a new custom-built interactive A V player that enables viewers to personalise their own orchestrated views of live events from multiple simultaneous camera streams, via interacting with tracked moving objects, being able to zoom in and out of targeted objects, and being able to switch views based upon detected incidents in specific camera views. This involves research and development of a personalisation framework to create and maintain user profiles that are acquired implicitly and explicitly and modelling how this framework supports an evaluation of the effectiveness and usability of personalisation. Personalisation is considered from both an application oriented and a quality supervision oriented perspective within the proposed framework. Personalisation models can be individually or collaboratively linked with specific personalisation usage scenarios. The quality of different personalised interaction in terms of explicit evaluative metrics such as scalability and consistency can be monitored and measured using specific evaluation mechanisms.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T14:01:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Ao longo dos anos, os computadores cresceram em importância no suporte à colaboração. Anteriormente, utilizados apenas como ferramentas em processos já consolidados de colaboração, hoje eles também têm um papel de propulsor. Como objetivo fundamental, sistemas colaborativos visam atender totalmente uma colaboração, sob o ponto de vista do modelo 3C (comunicação, coordenação e cooperação), disponibilizando ferramentas e funcionalidades que auxiliam estas etapas. Contudo, novas tecnologias estão possibilitando cada vez mais que os domínios destes tipos de sistemas se expandam, atuando não somente nas três divisões clássicas da colaboração, mas também em etapas preliminares deste processo, como busca de usuários e recursos. Isto é possível quando estamos imergidos em um cenário de computação ubíqua, por exemplo. Fazendo uso das características que este ambiente provê, como mobilidade e ciência do contexto, é possível incrementar os processos de colaboração. Etapa primordial de uma colaboração, a busca e definiçã / Over the years, computers have grown in importance in supporting collaboration. Previously used solely as tools in already established processes, today, beyond that purpose, they also have a hole of fostering new and unforeseen forms of collaboration. As a fundamental objective, collaborative systems intended to meet the whole set of demands of a collaboration, what means, under the terms of the 3C Model, to provide tools and features that address communication, coordination and cooperation between parts. Nevertheless, new technologies are allowing to further increase the workspace of these systems, bringing collaboration support beyond the three traditional divisions stated at the 3C Model and towards acting in preliminary stages, such as the search for users and resources. This is possible, for instance, as we are immersed in a scenario of ubiquitous computing. Using the characteristics that this environment provides, such as mobility and context-awareness, it is possible to improve the processes of collab