An AOL researcher inadverntly released a database of 21 million search queries to the Web. It's been snagged and is providing a valuable trove of sociological search behavior ... and potential privacy intrusion if the ID numbers are ever associated with u
he Brains, Behavior & Design Toolkit features five tools to help designers apply findings from the field of behavioral economics to their practice in order to provide a head start on framing research as well as developing new strategies for solving user problems
Context-aware computing refers to a general class of mobile systems that can sense their physical environment, i.e., their context of use, and adapt their behavior accordingly. Such systems are a component of a ubiquitous computing or pervasive computing environment. Three important aspects of context are: (1) where you are; (2) who you are with; and (3) what resources are nearby. Although location is a primary capability, location-aware does not necessarily capture things of interest that are mobile or changing. Context-aware in contrast is used more generally to include nearby people, devices, lighting, noise level, network availability, and even the social situation; e.g., whether you are with your family or a friend from school.
T. Krink, B. Mayoh, and Z. Michalewicz. Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary
Computation Conference, 2, page 1321--1328. Orlando, Florida, USA, Morgan Kaufmann, (13-17 July 1999)