Happy Birthday to Computational Legal Studies
March 17th, 2010
On March 17, 2009 we offered our first post here at the Computational Legal Studies Blog. It has been an exciting and fun year. Here are some of the highlights!
Archive
Author Archive
160,000 Hours of C-Span Coverage at Your Finger Tips
March 16th, 2010
As reported in the NY Times … roughly 160,000 hours of C-SPAN coverage is going live for your consumption. Yet another example that the Era of Big Data is upon us!
The Dissemination of Culture — Axelrod (1997) Model — Now Available on Netlogo’s Community Models Page
March 12th, 2010
Robert Axelrod’s 1997 Culture Model is a complex systems classic. Several versions of the model are available including one in Repast J. Perhaps the most user friendly version has recently been posted to Netlogo’s “community models” page. Those interested in experimenting with this Netlogo version of the model can click on the image above (provided you have Java 4.1 or higher installed).
For those not previously familiar with the model … Figure 1 from the article is featured to the left and demonstrates a model run through 80,000 events. Those results are generated in the following manner:
“Patches are assigned a list of num-features integers which can each take on one of num-traits values. Each tag is called a feature, while it’s value is called the trait. The links in the view represent walls between patches where solid black walls mean there is no cultural similarity, and white walls mean the neighbors have the same culture.
The order of actions is as follows:
1) At random, pick a site to be active, and pick one of it’s neighbors
2) With probability equal to their cultural similarity, these sites interact. The active site replaces one of the features on which they differ (if any) with the corresponding trait of the neighbor.”
Those looking for the original article … here is the both the citation and a link: Robert Axelrod, The Dissemination of Culture: A Model with Local Convergence and Global Polarization, J. Conflict Res, 41, 203 (1997).
In the years following its release, several important extensions or applications have been offered. These include contributions from scholars in a wide number of disciplines including applied math, political science, economics and physics. Indeed, while many more articles are available in outlets such as the arXiv … here is a subset for your consideration ….
Damon Centola, Juan Carlos González-Avella, Víctor M. Eguíluz & Maxi San Miguel, Homophily, Cultural Drift and the Co-Evolution of Cultural Groups, J. Conflict Res. 51, 905 (2007).
Konstantin Klemm, Victor M. Eguíluz, Raul Toral, Maxi San Miguel, Globalization, Polarization and Cultural Drift, J. Economic Dynamics & Control 29, 321 (2005).
Konstantin Klemm, Victor M. Eguíluz, Raul Toral & Maxi San Miguel, Role of Dimensionality in Axelrod’s Model for the Dissemination of Culture, Physica A 327, 1 (2003).
Gregory Todd Jones — Evolution of Complexity and “Rethinking Individuality” at TedX Atlanta
March 9th, 2010
As a member of the Society for Evolutionary Analysis in Law (SEAL), I have had the oppurtunity to see a number of interesting presentations by Gregory Todd Jones. Gregory is a Faculty Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgia State University College of Law as well as Senior Director of Research and Principal Scientist at the Network for Collaborative Problem Solving. Of particular interest to readers of this blog, he is also the founding director of the Computational Laboratory for Complex Adaptive Systems at Georgia State Law School.
Above is a recent talk by Gregory at the TedX Atlanta in which he (1) assembles a model of sustainability based on collaboration and (2) discusses species behavior … from slugs to chimpanzees. If you are interested in learning more … Gregory has launched a really cool blog … Cooperation Science Blog … Check it out!
Is It Real, or Is It Randomized?: A Financial Turing Test
March 8th, 2010
From the abstract … “We construct a financial “Turing test” to determine whether human subjects can differentiate between actual vs. randomized financial returns. The experiment consists of an online video-game where players are challenged to distinguish actual financial market returns from random temporal permutations of those returns. We find overwhelming statistical evidence (p-values no greater than 0.5%) that subjects can consistently distinguish between the two types of time series, thereby refuting the widespread belief that financial markets “look random.” A key feature of the experiment is that subjects are given immediate feedback regarding the validity of their choices, allowing them to learn and adapt. We suggest that such novel interfaces can harness human capabilities to process and extract information from financial data in ways that computers cannot.”
Down to the Wire … The Hurt Locker to Win the Oscar? [Intrade Prediction Market]
March 7th, 2010
It is the final hours over at the Intrade’s Oscar Prediction Market. While many of the categories are runaways, the race for Best Picture is tightening. Will Avatar (click here for chart) or The Hurt Locker (click here or above for chart) prevail? Watch tonight to find out ….
Gary Flake: Is Pivot a Turning Point for Web Exploration? [TED 2010]
March 4th, 2010
Another in the series of talks at TED 2010 …. From the description … “Gary Flake demos Pivot, a new way to browse and arrange massive amounts of images and data online. Built on breakthrough Seadragon technology, it enables spectacular zooms in and out of web databases, and the discovery of patterns and links invisible in standard web browsing.”
