PGSW-OS: a novel approach for resource management in a semantic web operating system based on a P2P grid architecture

A web operating system is an operating system that users can access from any hardware at any location. A peer-to-peer (P2P) grid uses P2P communication for resource management and communication between nodes in a grid and manages resources locally in each cluster, and this provides a proper architecture for a web operating system. Use of semantic technology in web operating systems is an emerging field that improves the management and discovery of resources and services. In this paper, we propose PGSW-OS (P2P grid semantic Web OS), a model based on a P2P grid architecture and semantic technology to improve resource management in a web operating system through resource discovery with the aid of semantic features. Our approach integrates distributed hash tables (DHTs) and semantic overlay networks to enable semantic-based resource management by advertising resources in the DHT based upon their annotations to enable semantic-based resource matchmaking. Our model includes ontologies and virtual organizations. Our technique decreases the computational complexity of searching in a web operating system environment. We perform a simulation study using the Gridsim simulator, and our experiments show that our model provides enhanced utilization of resources, better search expressiveness, scalability, and precision. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

A scalable and automatic mechanism for resource allocation in self-organizing cloud

Taking advantage of the huge potential of consumers’ untapped computing power, self-organizing cloud is a novel computing paradigm where the consumers are able to contribute/sell their computing resources. Meanwhile, host machines held by the consumers are connected by a peer-to-peer (P2P) overlay network on the Internet. In this new architecture, due to large and varying multitudes of resources and prices, it is inefficient and tedious for consumers to select the proper resource manually. Thus, there is a high demand for a scalable and automatic mechanism to accomplish resource allocation. In view of this challenge, this paper proposes two novel economic strategies based on mechanism design. Concretely, we apply the Modified Vickrey Auction (MVA) mechanism to the case where the resource is sufficient; and the Continuous Double Auction (CDA) mechanism is employed when the resource is insufficient. We also prove that aforementioned mechanisms have dominant strategy incentive compatibility. Finally, extensive experiment results are conducted to verify the performance of the proposed strategies in terms of procurement cost and execution efficiency.

Global policing and the case of Kim Dotcom

In early 2012, 76 heavily armed police conducted a raid on a house in Auckland, New Zealand. The targets were Kim Dotcom, a German national with a NZ residency visa, and several colleagues affiliated with Megaupload, an online subscription-based peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing facility. The alleged offences involved facilitating unlawful file sharing and United States federal criminal copyright violations. Following the raid, several court cases provide valuable insights into emerging ‘global policing’ practices (Bowling and Sheptycki 2012) based on communications between sovereign enforcement agencies. This article uses these cases to explore the growth of ‘extraterritorial’ police powers that operate ‘across borders’ (Nadelmann 1993) as part of several broader transformations of global policing in the digital age.

'What if you live on top of a bakery and you like cakes?'- Drug use and harm trajectories before, during and after the emergence of Silk Road

BACKGROUND: Cryptomarkets are digital platforms that use anonymising software (e.g. Tor) and cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin) to facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) trade of goods and services. Their emergence has facilitated access to a wide range of high-quality psychoactive substances, according to surveys of users. In this paper, we ask the question 'How does changing access to drugs through cryptomarkets affect the drug use and harm trajectories of their users?'

METHODS: We conducted a digital ethnography spanning 2012-2014, a period that included the seizure of the original Silk Road marketplace and forum by law enforcement. Using encrypted online chat, we interviewed 17 people who reported using Silk Road to purchase illicit drugs. The interviews were in-depth and unstructured, and also involved the use of life history timelines to trace trajectories. Transcripts were analysed thematically using NVivo.

RESULTS: For some, Silk Road facilitated initiation into drug use or a return to drug use after cessation. Typically, participants reported experiencing a glut of drug consumption in their first months using Silk Road, described by one participant as akin to 'kids in a candy store'. There was evidence that very high availability reduced the need for drug hoarding which helped some respondents to moderate use and feel more in control of purchases made online. Cryptomarket access also appeared to affect solitary and social drug users differently. Most participants described using other cryptomarkets after the closure of Silk Road, albeit with less confidence.

CONCLUSION: In the context of high levels of drug access, supply and diversity occurring within a community regulated environment online, the impacts of cryptomarkets upon drug use trajectories are complex, often posing new challenges for self-control, yet not always leading to harmful outcomes. A major policy challenge is how to provide support for harm reduction in these highly volatile settings.

A cluster operating system supporting parallel computing

The single factor limiting the harnessing of the enormous computing power of clusters for parallel computing is the lack of appropriate software. Present cluster operating systems are not built to support parallel computing – they do not provide services to manage parallelism. The cluster operating environments that are used to assist the execution of parallel applications do not provide support for both Message Passing (MP) or Distributed Shared Memory (DSM) paradigms. They are only offered as separate components implemented at the user level as library and independent servers. Due to poor operating systems users must deal with computers of a cluster rather than to see this cluster as a single powerful computer. A Single System Image of the cluster is not offered to users. There is a need for an operating system for clusters. We claim and demonstrate that it is possible to develop a cluster operating system that is
able to efficiently manage parallelism, support Message Passing and DSM and offer the Single System Image. In order to substantiate the claim the first version of a cluster operating system, called GENESIS, that manages parallelism and offers the Single System Image has been developed.

GENESIS: an efficient, transparent and easy to use cluster operating system

Present operating systems are not built to support parallel computing––they do not provide services to manage parallelism, i.e., to globally manage parallel processes and computational resources. The cluster operating environments that are used to assist the execution of parallel applications do not provide support for both programming paradigms, message passing (MP) or distributed shared memory (DSM)––they are mainly offered as separate components implemented at the user level as library and independent server processes. Due to poor operating systems users must deal with clusters as a set of independent computers rather than to see this cluster as a single powerful computer. A single system image (SSI) of the cluster is not offered to users. There is a need for an operating system for clusters. We claim and demonstrate in this paper that it is possible to develop a cluster operating system that is able to efficiently manage parallelism; use cluster resources efficiently; support MP in the form of standard MP and PVM, and DSM; offer SSI; and make it easy to use. We show that to achieve these aims this operating system should inherit many features of a distributed operating system and provide new services which address the needs of parallel processes, cluster's resources, and application developers. In order to substantiate the claim the first version of a cluster operating system managing parallelism and offering SSI, called GENESIS, has been developed.

Pervasive computing at tableside : a wireless web-based ordering system

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a wireless web-based ordering system called iMenu in the restaurant industry. Design/methodology/approach – By using wireless devices such as personal digital assistants and WebPads, this system realizes the paradigm of pervasive computing at tableside. Detailed system requirements, design, implementation and evaluation of iMenu are presented.

Findings – The evaluation of iMenu shows it explicitly increases productivity of restaurant staff. It also has other desirable features such as integration, interoperation and scalability. Compared to traditional restaurant ordering process, by using this system customers get faster and better services, restaurant staff cooperate more efficiently with less working mistakes, and enterprise owners thus receive more business profits.

Originality/value – While many researchers have explored using wireless web-based information systems in different industries, this paper presents a system that employs wireless multi-tiered web-based architecture to build pervasive computing systems. Instead of discussing theoretical issues on pervasive computing, we focus on practical issues of developing a real system, such as choosing of web-based architecture, design of input methods in small screens, and response time in wireless web-based systems.

Computing in a social context : gender difference in participation

The thesis reviews the literature relating to girls and computing within a framework which is structured around three specific questions. First, are there differences between girls and boys in their participation in class computing activities and/or in non-class computing activities? Second, do these differences in participation in computing activities have broader implications which justify the growing concern about the under-representation of girls? Third, wahy are girls under-represented in these activities? Although the available literature is predominantly descriptive, the underlying implicit theoretical model is essentially a social learning model. Girl's differential participation is attributed to learned attitudes towards computing rathan to differences between girls and boys in general ability. These attitudes, which stress the masculine, mathematical, technological aspects of computing are developed through modelling, direct experience, intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcement and generalisation from pre-existing, attitudes to related curriculum areas. In the literature it is implicitly assumed that these attitudes underlie girl's decisions to self-select out of computing activities. In this thesis predictions from a social learning model are complemented by predictions derived from expectancy-value, cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories. These are tested in three separate studies. Study one provides data from a pretest-posttest study of 24 children in a year four class learning BASIC. It examines pre- and posttest differences between girls and boys in computing experience, knowledge and achievement as well as the factors relating to computing achievement. Study two uses a pretest-posttest control group design to study the gender differences in the impact of the introduction of Logo into years 1, 3, 5 and 7 in both a coeducational and single-sex setting using a sample of 222 children from three schools. Study three utilises a larger sample of 1176 students, drawn from three secondary schools and five primary schools, enabling an evaluation of gender differences in relation to a wide range of class computing experiences and in a broader range of school contexts. The overall results are consistent across the three studies, supporting the contention that social factors, rather than ability differences influence girls' participation and achievement in computing. The more global theoretical framework, drawing on social learning, expectancy-value, cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories, provides a more adequate explanation of gender differences in participation than does any one of these models.

Advances in pervasive computing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of advances in pervasive computing.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a critical analysis of the literature.
Findings – Tools expected to support these advances are: resource location framework, data management (e.g. replica control) framework, communication paradigms, and smart interaction mechanisms. Also, infrastructures needed to support pervasive computing applications and an information appliance should be easy for anyone to use and the interaction with the device should be intuitive.
Originality/value – The paper shows how everyday devices with embedded processing and connectivity could interconnect as a pervasive network of intelligent devices that cooperatively and autonomously collect, process and transport information, in order to adapt to the associated context and activity

Cloud computing services : theoretical foundations of ethical and entrepreneurial adoption behaviour

Clouicomputing is an emerging service technology that has ethical and entrepreneurial implications. Due to technological innovations increasing the attention placed on cloud computing services, more people are focusing on the security and privacy issues determined by ethical guidelines and how the technology is evolving as an entrepreneurial service innov.ation. This paper presents a theoretical perspective on how a person adopts cloud computing. The literature on technology innovation and adoption behaviour is examined with a focus on social cognitive theory. A theoretical framework is then presented, which indicates a number of propositions to describe the intention of a person to adopt cloud computing services. The role of technology marketing capability, sustained learning and outcome expectancy are included in helping to understand the role of cloud computing applications. Suggestions for future research and practical implications are stated.

Designing a responsive material system with physical computing

This paper focuses on an investigation to explore architectural design potentials with a responsive material system and physical computing. Contemporary architects and designers are seeking to integrate physical computing in responsive architectural designs; however, they have largely borrowed from engineering technology's mechanical devices and components. There is the opportunity to investigate an unexplored design approach to exploit the responsive capacity of material properties as alternatives to the current focus on mechanical components and discrete sensing devices. This opportunity creates a different design paradigm for responsive architecture that investigates the potential to integrate physical computing with responsive materials as one integrated material system. Instead of adopting highly intricate and expensive materials, this approach is explored through accessible and off-the-shelf materials to form a responsive material system, called Lumina. Lumina is implemented as an architectural installation called Cloud that serves as a morphing architectural skin. Cloud is a proof of concept to embody a responsive material system with physical computing to create a reciprocal and luminous architectural intervention for a selected dark corridor. It represents a different design paradigm for responsive architecture through alternative exploitation of contemporary materials and parametric design tools. © 2014, The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA), Hong Kong.

Selected approaches and frameworks to carry out genomic data provision and analysis on the cloud

While High Performance Computing clouds allow researchers to process large amounts of genomic data, complex resource and software configuration tasks must be carried out beforehand. The current trend exposes applications and data as services, simplifying access to clouds. This paper examines commonly used cloud-based genomic analysis services, introduces the approach of exposing data as services and proposes two new solutions (HPCaaS and Uncinus) which aim to automate service development, deployment process and data provision. By comparing and contrasting these solutions, we identify key mechanisms of service creation, execution and data access required to support non-computing specialists employing clouds.

Software engineering for multi-tenancy computing challenges and implications

Multi-tenancy is a cloud computing phenomenon. Multiple instances of an application occupy and share resources from a large pool, allowing different users to have their own version of the same application running and coexisting on the same hardware but in isolated virtual spaces. In this position paper we survey the current landscape of multi-tenancy, laying out the challenges and complexity of software engineering where multi-tenancy issues are involved. Multitenancy allows cloud service providers to better utilise computing resources, supporting the development of more exible services to customers based on economy of scale, reducing overheads and infrastructural costs. Nevertheless, there are major challenges in migration from single tenant applications to multi-tenancy. These have not been fully explored in research or practice to date. In particular, the reengineering effort of multi-tenancy in Software-as-a-Service cloud applications requires many complex and important aspects that should be taken into consideration, such as security, scalability, scheduling, data isolation, etc. Our study emphasizes scheduling policies and cloud provisioning and deployment with regards to multi-tenancy issues. We employ CloudSim and MapReduce in our experiments to simulate and analyse multi-tenancy models, scenarios, performance, scalability, scheduling and reliability on cloud platforms.

An overview of Fog computing and its security issues

Fog computing is a paradigm that extends Cloud computing and services to the edge of the network. Similar to Cloud, Fog provides data, compute, storage and application services to end users. In this article, we elaborate the motivation and advantages of Fog computing and analyse its applications in a series of real scenarios, such as Smart Grid, smart traffic lights in vehicular networks and software defined networks. We discuss the state of the art of Fog computing and similar work under the same umbrella. Distinguished from other reviewing work of Fog computing, this paper further discloses the security and privacy issues according to current Fog computing paradigm. As an example, we study a typical attack, man-in-the-middle attack, for the discussion of system security in Fog computing. We investigate the stealthy features of this attack by examining its CPU and memory consumption on Fog device. In addition, we discuss the authentication and authorization techniques that can be used in Fog computing. An example of authentication techniques is introduced to address the security scenario where the connection between Fog and Cloud is fragile.

The fog computing paradigm: scenarios and security issues

Fog Computing is a paradigm that extends Cloud computing and services to the edge of the network. Similar to Cloud, Fog provides data, compute, storage, and application services to end-users. In this article, we elaborate the motivation and advantages of Fog computing, and analyse its applications in a series of real scenarios, such as Smart Grid, smart traffic lights in vehicular networks and software defined networks. We discuss the state-of-the-art of Fog computing and similar work under the same umbrella. Security and privacy issues are further disclosed according to current Fog computing paradigm. As an example, we study a typical attack, man-in-the-middle attack, for the discussion of security in Fog computing. We investigate the stealthy features of this attack by examining its CPU and memory consumption on Fog device.