Virtual world security inspection : a software inspection process carried out on popular virtual world environments

 Virtual property theft is a serious problem that exists in virtual worlds. Legitimate users of these worlds invest considerable amounts of time, effort and real-world money into obtaining virtual property, but unfortunately, are becoming victims of theft in high numbers. It is reported that there are over 1 billion registered users of virtual worlds containing virtual property items worth an estimated US$50 billion dollars. The problem of virtual property theft is complex, involving many legal, social and technological issues. The software used to access virtual worlds is of great importance as they form the primary interface to these worlds and as such the primary interface to conduct virtual property theft. The security vulnerabilities of virtual world applications have not, to date, been examined. This study aims to use the process of software inspection to discover security vulnerabilities that may exist within virtual world software – vulnerabilities that enable virtual property theft to occur. Analyzing three well know virtual world applications World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and Entropia Universe, this research utilized security analysis tools and scenario testing with focus on authentication, trading, intruder detection and virtual property recovery. It was discovered that all three examples were susceptible to keylogging, mail and direct trade methods were the most likely method for transferring stolen items, intrusion detection is of critical concern to all VWEs tested, stolen items were unable to be recovered in all cases and lastly occurrences of theft were undetectable in all cases. The results gained in this study present the key problem areas which need to be addressed to improve security and reduce the occurrence of virtual property theft.

Shophouse and Thai urbanism : towards a 'software approach'?

The role of the shophouse, both as typology and urban stock, in Thai urbanism as a type which is both universal-regional and local. Also discusses the potential of shophouses for sustainable regeneration of Thai urban spaces and practices.

Software developer policies : economics and s 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010

This article considers the impact of developer policies that hinder or restrict cross platform application development. We suggest that policies that hinder or restrict cross platform development have the potential to erode competition within the market for smartphones. The article also considers the relevance of dominance measures in software markets, arguing that conventional economic approaches may not be applicable. Furthermore, while most monitoring activities tend to focus primarily on protection of consumers, the article points out that modern electronic/information technology markets are multi-sided and there is a need for monitoring of practices designed to attract and retain the favour of developers. While the article is written in the context and application of the applicable Australian legislation, this being s 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), our findings are equally relevant to other jurisdictions.

Software reliability growth models based on local polynomial modeling with kernel smoothing

Software reliability growth models (SRGMs) are extensively employed in software engineering to assess the reliability of software before their release for operational use. These models are usually parametric functions obtained by statistically fitting parametric curves, using Maximum Likelihood estimation or Least–squared method, to the plots of the cumulative number of failures observed N(t) against a period of systematic testing time t. Since the 1970s, a very large number of SRGMs have been proposed in the reliability and software engineering literature and these are often very complex, reflecting the involved testing regime that often took place during the software development process. In this paper we extend some of our previous work by adopting a nonparametric approach to SRGM modeling based on local polynomial modeling with kernel smoothing. These models require very few assumptions, thereby facilitating the estimation process and also rendering them more relevant under a wide variety of situations. Finally, we provide numerical examples where these models will be evaluated and compared.

Change of the century - free software and the positive possibility

The much touted ‘freedoms’ of FLOSS are coming under increasing scrutiny as they are applied to contexts beyond their original formation. Is ‘freedom as in speech’ enough or are there other freedoms upon which the construction of the commons depends? Martin Hardie has worked extensively on an archeology of how the GNU/Linux operating system was developed, exposing the myths that are at its foundation. Here, he asks how the licensing of FLOSS operates within the constitution of Empire and locates in the new forms of ‘producing in common’ the means to reverse the proliferation of alternative law and instead affirm a true alternative to law.

Markers assistant – a software solution for the management of the assessment process

Technology-mediated instruction is changing the educational environment by adding another dimension to teaching and learning. Despite the advances in technology and the way we use technology, little attention has been given to providing technology solutions that help create, conduct, and manage the central task of assessment. Software to manage and conduct assessment presents many challenges. This article examines a stand-alone, flexible software environment designed to provide all the tools required to view, mark, store, and deliver results efficiently while improving the feedback to the students. A description of the software and its functions, the techniques and methods developed to overcome the limitations that software presents when used to conduct assessment is examined. Case studies are presented that describe: (a) the types of assessment the software has been used to conduct and manage; (b) the types of problems that were encountered; and (c) the solutions and techniques that were discovered and used to overcome the problems.

Engagement and learning through social software in finance : a retrospective on the Trading Room experience

The introduction of a social software blog space called the Trading Room in an undergraduate finance unit generated a great deal of activity to support student learning. A subsequent evaluation of this innovation, viewed through the lens of Activity Theory, demonstrated that students perceived high value in the opportunity it provided for them to reaffirm theories, obtain individualised feedback and benchmark their work against others. While assessment is generally seen as the carrot and the stick of learning; students in the study reported that they would still participate in reading and posting to the Trading Room even if there was no assessment requirement. Students did not see any value in the environment as a purely social space, reporting that they saw it primarily as a professional educational community. It would appear that just as there are different communities in the real world social space, there are also different types of communities in the online space.

Patent management and social software

The worldwide increase of patent applications and the important role patents play in economic development make the management of intellectual property (IP) an important area for many companies. At the same time, the complexity in decision-making and IP process management necessitates a high degree of collaboration between various enterprise divisions such as strategy and policy making and market research. In this paper we present an ongoing case study at a large international automotive manufacturer that is exploring the potential of social software to support patent management. We conducted 31 semi-structured interviews to identify relevant patent processes at the company as well as typical operational problems within these processes. This leads us to derive four propositions on how social software can support patent processes. We conclude by providing an overview of the next steps in our research project. Our results present a first step in understanding the role of emerging social software services in enabling collaborative patent management.

A taxonomy of dependencies in agile software development

Dependencies in a software project can contribute to unsatisfactory progress if they constrain or block the flow of work. Various studies highlight the importance of dependencies in the organisation of work; however dependencies in agile software development projects have not previously been a research focus. Drawing on three case studies of agile software projects, and the IS literature, this paper develops an initial taxonomy of agile software project dependencies. Three distinct categories of dependency are found: task, resource, and knowledge dependencies. This paper contributes to theory by providing a taxonomy of dependency types occurring in the area of agile software development. Practitioners can use this taxonomy as sensitising device to ensure they consider dependencies they might face that could hinder their projects, enabling them to take appropriate and timely mitigating action.

Global software development : measuring, approximating and reducing the complexity of global software development using extended axiomatic design theory

This paper considers GSD projects as designed artefacts, and proposes the application of an Extended Axiomatic Design theory to reduce their complexity in order to increase the probability of project success. Using an upper bound estimation of the Kolmogorov complexity of the so-called ‘design matrix’ (as a proxy of Information Content as a complexity measure) we demonstrate on two hypothetical examples how good and bad designs of GSD planning compare in terms of complexity. We also demonstrate how to measure and calculate the ‘structural’ complexity of GSD projects and show that by satisfying all design axioms this ‘structural’ complexity could be minimised.