Systems in the Small

This is a presentation introducing students to the idea of Algorithms. It is intended for students who are technical, but are not Computer Science students. The presentation covers definitions, characteristics, complexity and some simple examples.

Power and Influence

Like any form of human interaction and communication it is possible to view Social Media as a means for the powerful to influence and control the less powerful. But what is power on social media, how might we measure or affect it, and does it translate to the real world? In this lecture we will look at the philosophical definitions of power, and explore how it has been analysed in social networks and social media systems. We will also look at the characteristics of social networks that impact on power, including Homophily, Heterophily, CyberBalkanization and Thresholds of Collective Action. Finally we will ask what evidence there is that power in social media can affect what goes on in the real world, and explore some real and fictional examples of protest to see what the consequences of social media actually are on sometimes violent political debate.

Programming Principles: Starting Out

In this lecture we describe the structure of the Programming Principles course at Southampton, look at the definitions and paradigms of programming, and take a look ahead to the key things that we will be covering in the weeks ahead.

Group 15 (Snav) - The Data Protection Act 1998

An online tutorial outlining the definitions and principles of the Data Protection Act. Contains questions on scenarios which allow the user to test their knowledge, as well as a downloadable space-shooter game which gets the user to answer Data Protection Act questions.