The aim of this work is to explore recommender systems for prediction user's future film ratings according to their previous ratings. Author will describe available algorithms and compare their results with his own algorithm. The goal is to find algorithm with the highest prediction accuracy and find the most important parameters for a good predictions.

Streamed media is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives and companies like Netflix is competing with linear television for consumers. It is hard to deny that there is a shift in the media industry and streamed media is progressing, within the last three years the number of subscribers has almost been doubled. With this in mind it is both interesting and necessary to study motives and content in users to gain a better understanding of this yet very little explored phenomenon that is streamed media. This report contains a qualitative study of motives behind the use of streamed media and how the content affects our choice of streaming service. We interviewed seven young adults between the ages of 21-26 at the Linneaus University in Kalmar. The result suggests that the user’s motives and the content depend on economy and generation factors, such as social situation and personal interests.

Today's popular over-the-top (OTT) video streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix and Hulu deliver video contents to viewers using adaptive bitrate (ABR) technologies. In ABR streaming, a video player running on a viewer's device adaptively changes bitrates to match given network conditions. However, providing reliable streaming is challenging. First, an ABR player may select an inappropriate bitrate during playback due to the lack of direct knowledge of access networks, frequent user mobility and rapidly changing channel conditions. Second, OTT content is delivered to viewers without any cooperation with Internet service providers (ISPs). Last, there are no appropriate tools that evaluate the performance of ABR streaming along with video quality of experience (QoE). This thesis describes how to improve the video QoE of OTT video streaming services using ABR technologies. Our analysis starts from understanding ABR heuristics. How does ABR streaming work? What factors does an ABR player consider when switching bitrates during a download? Then, we propose our solutions to improve existing ABR streaming from the perspective of network operators who deliver video content through their networks and video service providers who build ABR players running on viewers' devices. From the network operators' point of view, we propose to find a better video content server based on round trip times (RTTs) between an edge node of a wireless network and available video content servers when a viewer requests a video. The edge node can be an Internet Service Provider (ISP) router in a Wi-Fi network and a packet data network gateway (P-GW) in a 4G network. During the experiments, our solution showed better TCP performance (e.g., higher TCP throughput during playback) 146 times out of 200 experiments (73%) over Wi-Fi networks and 162 times out of 200 experiments (81%) over 3G networks. In addition, we claim that the wireless edge nodes can assist an ABR video player in selecting the best available bitrate by controlling the available bandwidth in the radio access network between a base station and a viewer's device. In our Wi-Fi testbed, the proposed solution saved up to 21% of radio bandwidth on mobile devices and enhanced the viewing experience by reducing rebufferings during playback. Last, we assert that software-defined networking (SDN) can improve video QoE by dynamically controlling routing paths of video streaming flows based on the provisioned networking information collected from SDN-enabled networking devices. Using an off-the-shelf SDN platform, we showed that our proposed solution can reduce rebufferings by 50% and provide higher bitrates during a download. From the perspective of video service providers, higher video QoE can be achieved by improving ABR heuristics implemented in an ABR player. To support this idea, we investigated the role of playout buffer size in ABR streaming and its impact on video QoE. Through our video QoE survey, we proved that a large buffer does not always outperform a small buffer, especially under rapidly varying network conditions. Based on this finding, we suggest to dynamically change the maximum buffer size in an ABR player depending on the current capacity of its playout buffer for improving the QoE of viewers. During the experiments, our proposed solution improved the viewing experience by offering 15% higher average played bitrate, 70% fewer bitrate changes and 50% shorter rebuffering duration. Our experimental results show that even small changes of ABR heuristics and new features of network systems can greatly affect video QoE. However, it is still difficult for video service providers or network operators to evaluate new ABR heuristics or network system changes due to lack of accurate QoE monitoring systems. In order to solve this issue, we have developed YouSlow ("YouTube Too Slow!? - YouSlow") as a new approach to monitoring video QoE for the analysis of ABR performance. The lightweight web browser plug-in and mobile application are designed to monitor various playback events (e.g., rebuffering duration and frequency of bitrate changes) directly from within ABR video players and calculate statistics along with video QoE. Using YouSlow, we investigate the impact of the above playback events on video abandonment: about 10% of viewers abandoned the YouTube videos when the pre-roll ads lasted for 15 seconds. Even increasing the bitrate can annoy viewers; they prefer a high starting bitrate with no bitrate changes during playback. Our regression analysis shows that bitrate changes do not affect video abandonment significantly and the abandonment rate can be estimated accurately using the rebuffering ratio and the number of rebufferings. The thesis includes four main contributions. First, we investigate today's popular OTT video streaming services (e.g., YouTube and Netflix) that use ABR streaming technologies. Second, we propose to build QoS and QoE aware video streaming that can be implemented in existing wireless networks (e.g., Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G) and in SDN-enabled networks. Third, we propose to improve current ABR heuristics by dynamically changing the playout buffer size under varying network conditions. Last, we designed and implemented a new monitoring system for measuring video QoE.

Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera och problematisera Netflix kategori ”Serier med en stark kvinnlig huvudkaraktär” utifrån valda begrepp inom feministisk medieteori. Det valda teoretiska ramverket och tidigare forskningen låg som grund för hur problemformulering skapats. Den valda metoden var kritisk diskursanalys baserat på den formulerad av Norman Fairclough och genomfördes med hjälp av dennes verktyg den tredimensionella modellen, som undersöker diskursiv praktik och text i relation till den sociala praktiken. Detta kombinerades även med en innehållsanalys för att ge en bredare förståelse för materialet, samt verktyg för att kunna nå en mer övergripande konklusion över kategorins struktur och dess innebörd. Resultatet visade både på en historisk utveckling, men även på en komplex reproduktion av maktförhållanden inom medieproduktion.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att se hur funktionsnedsättningar gestaltas i populärkultur. Underlaget utgjordes av tv-serier riktade mot ungdomar hämtade från strömningssiten Netflix. Undersökningen var av explorativ karaktär och är att betrakta som en förstudie. Den specialpedagogiska relevansen återfinns i det att ungdomar och vuxna tar med sig stereotypa och diskriminerande bilder av funktionsnedsättningar in i undervisningen, bilder som behöver granskas kritiskt. Teoretiskt och metodologiskt förankrades undersökningen i kultiverings- och diskursteori, och den har en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ del. Resultatet visade att rörelsehinder och intellektuell funktionsnedsättning är de funktionshinder som förekommer mest i materialet. Gestaltandet av samtliga funktionsnedsättningar var i många avseenden stereotypt, men det förekom undantag. I fallet rörelsehindrade fanns både stereotypa och mer nyanserade porträtt. Vidare framkom av studien att vissa stereotyper som varit vanliga förr, inte förekommer längre, men också att det kan finnas behov av nya stereotyper för att hantera det moderna spektrumet av gestaltningar. Resultatet visade också att i diskursen har bilden av funktionsnedsatta gått från ”mindre värda” till ”behövande”, men att behövandet mellan funktionsnedsatta och icke funktionsnedsatta också är ömsesidigt. Utanför diskursen står gestaltningar av grövre former av funktionshinder och komorbiditet. Slutsatsen som drogs var att funktionsnedsattas utanförskap generellt fortsatt konstrueras i media.

This dissertation examines streaming media both as a technological innovation and cultural practice that co-configures audience and industry. Strategies and tactics provide a theoretical framework for understanding streaming media. Streaming is theorized as a tactic; wherein audiences momentarily buck against the strategic logic of media conglomerates and copyright regimes. However, streaming, concomitantly, is an audience tactic and a strategic logic of an emergent streaming industry. This results in the blurring between first and third party and sanctioned and unsanctioned streaming. In this dissertation, I parse out what are the nascent streaming logics within this burgeoning industry and how they constitutively shape and re-shape audiences and traditional broadcasting logics. Five typologies of streaming serve as conceptual tools for deepening our understanding of streaming media and technology. The first is streaming as a recent technological advancement, divided into software and hardware categories. The second conceptual framework is a typology of streaming that divides streaming into first and third party sanctioned and unsanctioned streaming. The third is streaming as an emergent industry. The fourth is streaming as a discourse, and the final typology divides streaming based on geography as transnational streaming, national streaming, and diasporic streaming. All of these classifications lay the groundwork for the further conceptualization of this important and emergent socio-technical practice.

Submitted by Automação e Estatística (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2018-07-02T18:26:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ArthurBarrosDeFranca_DISSERT.pdf: 5614056 bytes, checksum: 1259f6104fedc06827d27fc45356001b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-07-04T11:51:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ArthurBarrosDeFranca_DISSERT.pdf: 5614056 bytes, checksum: 1259f6104fedc06827d27fc45356001b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-04T11:51:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArthurBarrosDeFranca_DISSERT.pdf: 5614056 bytes, checksum: 1259f6104fedc06827d27fc45356001b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-05 / A identidade, durante significativo tempo, foi definida lógico-sensivelmente, isto é, como aquilo que se repetia: homogeneidade, fixidez e imutabilidade. Os estudos culturais, por outro lado, apropriando-se de discussões em várias áreas do conhecimento a respeito da natureza histórico-cultural do ente humano, chegou à conclusão de que as vozes sociais integram sociossemioticamente a consciência individual – e nela interagem –, mostrando que o indivíduo não é tão uno conforme se pensava. Na contemporaneidade, momento em que as certezas têm se desvanecido com maiores intensidade e frequência, as representações construídas pelo/para eu tornam-se mais notáveis. A arte – sendo de ponta a ponta social – vai reverberar isso, o que implica dizer que a configuração enunciativa de sua esfera também é situada num espaço-tempo específicos. Nesse aspecto, a ideologia (enquanto axiologia e campo da atividade humana) é condição da atuação na terra pelo homem, razão pela qual a alteridade goza de fundamental importância na constituição da identidade. Consciente disso, esta pesquisa, a partir da concepção de linguagem bakhtiniana, debruça-se sobre os embates identitários das personagens no seriado “Master of None”, da empresa Netflix. Assim, analisam-se verbivocovisualmente os enunciados concretos materializados no eixo temático “gênero, raça, etnia e classe social”. A área na qual este trabalho se insere é a Linguística Aplicada, caracterizada como entre fronteiras, indisciplinar e constantemente questionadora de seu fazer. A postura metodológica desta investigação desenvolve-se dentro da abordagem qualitativa, com enfoque sócio-histórico e paradigma indiciário. Os resultados colocam em evidência, no enunciado artístico, as estratégias discursivas de monologização e abertura identitária. Nesse contexto, as personagens revelam tons discursivos situados, fazendo jus às identidades assumidas. Seus posicionamentos atuam para corroborar a perpetuação de um sentido ou para subvertê-lo ideologicamente. / La identidad, durante significativo tiempo, fue definida lógico-sensiblemente, es decir, como aquello que se repetía: homogeneidad, fijeza e inmutabilidad. Los estudios culturales, por otro lado, al apropiarse de discusiones en varias áreas del conocimiento acerca de la naturaleza histórico-cultural del ente humano, llegó a la conclusión de que las voces sociales integran sociosemioticamente la conciencia individual – y en ella interactúan –, mostrando que el individuo no es tan uno como se pensaba. En la contemporaneidad, momento en que las certezas se han desvanecido con mayor intensidad y frecuencia, las representaciones construidas por/para mí se vuelven más notables. El arte – siendo de punta a punta social – va a reverberar eso, lo que implica decir que la configuración enunciativa de su esfera también está situada en un espaciotiempo específicos. En este aspecto, la ideología (como axiología y campo de la actividad humana) es condición de la actuación en la tierra por el hombre, razón por la cual la alteridad goza de fundamental importancia en la constitución de la identidad. Consciente de ello, esta investigación, a partir de la concepción del lenguaje bakhtiniano, se centra en los embates identitarios de los personajes en la serie "Master of None", de la empresa de Netflix. Así, se analizan verbivocovisualmente los enunciados concretos materializados en el eje temático "género, raza, etnia y clase social". El área en la cual este trabajo se inserta es la Lingüística Aplicada, caracterizada como entre fronteras, indisciplinaria y constantemente cuestionadora de su hacer. La postura metodológica de esta investigación se desarrolla dentro del abordaje cualitativo, con enfoque socio-histórico y paradigma indiciario. Los resultados ponen en evidencia, en el enunciado artístico, las estrategias discursivas de monologización y apertura identitaria. En ese contexto, los personajes revelan tonos discursivos situados, haciendo jus a las identidades asumidas. Sus posicionamientos actúan para corroborar la perpetuación de un sentido o para subvertirlo ideológicamente.

Entertainment is an ever-changing medium, and television specifically has gone through many technological innovations since its bright beginnings. These innovations have consistently changed the way stories are told. Stylistic shifts in key elements ranging from shot format to the way shows are constructed can be seen especially clearly in horror which does not have the same narrative constraints as many other genres, and therefore more room to experiment. By tracking changes in the narrative formats of serialized and anthology horror shows, I define a new era of television brought about by the prevalence of streaming, and the rise of binge culture.

This paper works as an assignment from the Video On Demand Company Headweb, who wanted aninterface analysis of their own and their competitors VOD services. The purpose is to help Headwebwith their own interface by studying theirs and others interfaces and make an analysis on how theyfunction, how they look and how good the usability is with every service, with hope to findsomething that could make the VOD service of Headweb better.I have also studied how the interfaces of the VOD services look on different platforms, to see howthey are designed as a whole. This has been an expert analysis where I have studied the differentVOD-services by myself, without any external users.To find advantages and disadvantages with the services and their platforms, I have used differenttheories, models and design patterns to frame areas such as filmsearch, categorization, registrationand navigation. I have compared the VOD services with each other and drew conclusions for eacharea to see how the interfaces differ between the services, but also between platforms.My analysis has shown that all VOD services in this project have a very unique interface, eventhough they all have the same goal, to allow the user to control their viewing of film. They usevarious functions and structure and use their own page names and categorizations. In this project, Ihave also found a number of changes that I recommend that Headweb does to their service toenhance the usability.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vilka berättarkomponenter som skaparna av The Keepers använder i serien, hur de fungerar tillsammans och hur de möjliggör ett långt dokumentärt berättande. För att komma fram till ett resultat har vi gjort en narrativ analys och en visuell narrativ analys med hjälp av teorier som diskuterar filmatiseringar, animationer, modus och dramaturgi. Resultatet visade att kombinationen av ett klassiskt dramaturgiskt berättande tillsammans med moderna berättarkomponenter i The Keepers skapar spänning och engagerar tittaren i det långa berättandet. Kombinationen av berättarkomponenterna gör att avsnitten hänger ihop väl och leder tittaren framåt genom alla sju avsnitt och serien.