Software

Routledge (New Media and Cyberculture Series), July 2007.

This paper describes a novel pedagogical software program that can be seen as an online companion to one of the standard textbooks of formal natural language semantics, Heim and Kratzer (1998). The Penn Lambda Calculator is a multifunctional application designed for use in standard graduate and undergraduate introductions to formal semantics: Teachers can use the application to demonstrate complex semantic derivations in the classroom and modify them interactively, and students can use it to work on problem sets provided by the (...) teacher. The program supports demonstrations and exercises in two main areas: (1) performing beta reduction in the simply typed lambda calculus; (2) application of the bottom-up algorithm for computing the compositional semantics of natural language syntax trees. The program is able to represent the full range of phenomena covered in the Heim and Kratzer textbook by function application, predicate modification, and lambda abstraction. This includes phenomena such as intersective adjectives, relative clauses and quantifier raising. In the student use case, emphasis has been placed on providing “live” feedback for incorrect answers. Heuristics are used to detect the most frequent student errors and to return specific, interactive suggestions. (shrink)

According to the Argument for Autonomous Mental Disorder (AAMD), mental disorder can occur in the absence of brain disorder, just as software problems can occur in the absence of hardware problems in a computer. This paper argues that the AAMD is unsound. I begin by introducing the ‘natural dysfunction analysis’ of disorder, before outlining the AAMD. I then analyse the necessary conditions for realiser autonomous dysfunction. Building on this, I show that software functions disassociate from hardware functions in a way (...) that mental functions do not disassociate from brain functions. It follows that mental disorders are brain disorders necessarily. (shrink)

The popularity of empirical methods in software engineering research is on the rise. Surveys, experiments, metrics, case studies, and field studies are examples of empirical methods used to investigate both software engineering processes and products. The increased application of empirical methods has also brought about an increase in discussions about adapting these methods to the peculiarities of software engineering. In contrast, the ethical issues raised by empirical methods have received little, if any, attention in the software engineering literature. This article (...) is intended to introduce the ethical issues raised by empirical research to the software engineering research community, and to stimulate discussion of how best to deal with these ethical issues. Through a review of the ethical codes of several fields that commonly employ humans and artifacts as research subjects, we have identified major ethical issues relevant to empirical studies of software engineering. These issues are illustrated with real empirical studies of software engineering. (shrink)

Bernard Stiegler highlights many of the problems faced by education with respect to the ‘bringing forth’ of knowledge on an individual, collective, and technical level in the Anthropocene. These problems include the short-circuiting of dreams, automatization of thought, and toxic digital networks. Stiegler’s φάρμακον seeks to treat the toxicity of the Anthropocene with a care-ful hermeneutic approach that is directed towards the disautomatized, inventive, co-individuating knowledge act. This paper first explores Stiegler’s Anthropocene and his development of Heideggerian ποίησις in terms (...) of the challenge of the ‘bringing forth’ of knowledge acts, which are illustrated by free software. It then explores, through the additional example of free radio, of Félix Guattari’s work in free radio, the problem and possibility of creative co-individuating ex-pression in the Anthropocene by expanding on Stiegler’s emphasis on the importance of hermeneutics. This raises the question of how to read Stiegler’s own ex-pression of the future of knowledge. Next, the paper reviews Stiegler’s educational project involving a dis-automatizable hermeneutic web. Finally, the paper gives an autoethnographic account of an attempt to ‘bring forth’ learning through the implementation of free software in local, online classrooms. The free software example does not solve the problem of the Anthropocene but does raise the question of our responsibility to choose our digital tools care-fully and the importance of maintaining the possibility of co-individuating ex-pression like the kind that is remembered in song and which online education should remind us of. (shrink)

Cognitive Science, Volume 46, Issue 5, May 2022.

Persons with aphasia suffer from a loss of communication ability as a consequence of a brain injury. A small strand of research indicates effec- tiveness of dialogic interventions for communication development for persons with aphasia, but a vast amount of research studies shows its effectiveness for other target groups. In this paper, we describe the main parts of the hitherto technological development of an application named Dialogica that is (i) aimed at facilitating increased communicative participation in dialogic settings for persons (...) with aphasia and other communication disorders, (ii) based on comput- er game technology as well as on theory in dialogic education and argumenta- tion theory, and (iii) designed for mobile devices with larger screens. (shrink)

Computational reproducibility possesses its own dynamics and narratives of crisis. Alongside the difficulties of computing as an ubiquitous yet complex scientific activity, computational reproducibility suffers from a naive expectancy of total reproducibility and a moral imperative to embrace the principles of free software as a non-negotiable epistemic virtue. We argue that the epistemic issues at stake in actual practices of computational reproducibility are best unveiled by focusing on software as a pivotal concept, one that is surprisingly often overlooked in accounts (...) of reproducibility issues. Software is not only about designing and coding but also about maintaining, supporting, distributing, licensing, and governance; it is not only about developers but also about users. We focus on openness debates among computational chemists involved in molecular modeling software packages as empirical grounding for our argument. We then identify and analyse four epistemic characteristics as key to the role of software in computational reproducibility. (shrink)

Deepfakes, an algorithm that transposes the face of one person onto the face of another person in images and film, is a digital technology that may fundamentally alter our belief in visual modality and thus presents alarming consequences for an image-centric culture. Not only are these face-translations now so advanced that it is virtually impossible for people to tell that they are fake – this technology is also becoming accessible to laypersons who, with little or no computer skills, can use (...) them for all kinds of purposes, including criminal intentions like revenge porn and identity theft. It is therefore timely and crucial to explore the semiotic potential of deepfakes. This paper presents a semiotic technology perspective, i.e., the study of technology for meaning- making that is an emergent field in social semiotics, to report on findings from an ongoing study of how deepfake software is designed and used as a semiotic resource in erotic and political contexts. The paper advances the argument that the software is able to appropriate all signifiers of the face and their cultural history. Consequently, the semiotic operations of this technology prepare the ground for the problematic perspectives of synthetic facial imagery. On this basis, the paper calls for a critical awareness of taking visual representations of current events at face value and considers how deepfake technology is embedded in unsound sharing practices of visual artefacts that tamper with the rich meaning potential of the face. (shrink)

Computational chemistry grew in a new era of “desktop modeling,” which coincided with a growing demand for modeling software, especially from the pharmaceutical industry. Parameterization of models in computational chemistry is an arduous enterprise, and we argue that this activity leads, in this specific context, to tensions among scientists regarding the epistemic opacity transparency of parameterized methods and the software implementing them. We relate one flame war from the Computational Chemistry mailing List in order to assess in detail the relationships (...) between modeling methods, parameterization, software and the various forms of their enclosure or disclosure. Our claim is that parameterization issues are an important and often neglected source of epistemic opacity and that this opacity is entangled in methods and software alike. Models and software must be addressed together to understand the epistemological tensions at stake. (shrink)

Over the past few decades, a considerable amount of interest has been observed for improving the overall road transportation across the globe, primarily to enhance the safety of vehicular passengers and vulnerable road pedestrians. Vehicular Ad hoc NetworksVehicular Ad hoc Networks are anticipated to play a critical role in smart cities and Internet of Things domain. Instead, it is expected that a new paradigm of Internet of VehiclesInternet of Vehicles will soon become an important component of the IoT. Also, since (...) the connected vehicles primarily disseminate safety-critical information, it is imperative to have an extremely secure and trusted network so that critical data information could be traversed with extreme reliability and authenticity. Unlike conventional wired networks, vehicular networks are highly dynamic, distributed and of open nature, and are, therefore, susceptible to various attacks such as replayReplay, spoofingSpoofing, eavesdroppingEavesdropping, man-in-the-middleMan-in-the-middle, distributed denial-of-serviceDenial-of-service, blackhole, grayhole, SybilSybil and other malware attacksMalware attacks. To address the same, numerous mechanisms have been proposed in the literature, mainly relying on traditional cryptographyCryptography techniques. Nevertheless, cryptography-based solutions are not effective in VANETs since nodes in this network are highly dynamic and distributed across the network. Moreover, the network infrastructure cannot be guaranteed permanently, and cryptographic solutions may also get compromised due to insider attacks in a network. This chapter aims to provide an in-depth investigation of a diverse range of security attacks challenging the actual realisation of vehicular networks. In contrast to conventional security solutions, it brings forth the need for trust management for securing vehicular networks for ensuring reliability, authenticity and relevance by revoking both malicious and selfish nodes. It also briefly highlights the need for trust models and illustrates the characteristics of data-oriented trust models, entity-oriented trust models and hybrid trust models. Furthermore, since the conventional networks are being transformed via the promising yet emerging notion of software-defined networking, a brief discussion is presented so as to illustrate how a reconfigurable, reprogrammable and agile infrastructure can help in guaranteeing more secure vehicular networking platforms which are indispensable for futuristic Intelligent Transportation SystemIntelligent Transportation System applications and services. (shrink)

The process of completing, correcting and prioritising specifications is an essential but very complex task for the maintenance and improvement of software systems. The preservation of functionalities and the ability to accommodate changes are main objectives of the software development cycle to guarantee system reliability. Logical theories able to fully model such processes are still insufficient. In this paper we propose a full formalisation of such operations on software systems inspired by the Alchourrón–Gärdenfors–Makinson paradigm for belief revision of human epistemic (...) states. We represent specifications as finite sets of formulas equipped with a priority relation that models functional entrenchment of properties. We propose to handle specification incompleteness through ordered expansion, inconsistency through ordered safe contraction and prioritisation through revision with reordering, and model all three in an algorithmic fashion. We show how the system satisfies basic properties of the AGM paradigm, including Levi’s and Harper’s identities. We offer a concrete example and complexity results for the inference and model checking problems on revision. We conclude by describing resilience and evolvability of software systems based on such revision operators. (shrink)

Una imagen muy generalizada a la hora de entender el software de computador es la que lo representa como una “caja negra”: no importa realmente saber qué partes lo componen internamente, sino qué resultados se obtienen de él según ciertos valores de entrada. Al hacer esto, muchos problemas filosóficos son ocultados, negados o simplemente mal entendidos. Este artículo discute tres unidades de análisis del software de computador, esto es, las especificaciones, los algoritmos y los procesos computacionales. El objetivo central es (...) entender las prácticas cientficas e ingenieriles detrás de cada unidad de software, así como analizar su metodología, ontología y epistemología. (shrink)

Software process modelling has recently become an area of interest within both academia and industry. It aims at defining and formalizing the software process in the form of formal rigorous models. A software process modelling formalism presents the language or notation in which the software process is defined and formalized. Several software process modelling formalisms have been introduced lately, however, they have failed to gain the attention of the industry. One major objective of formalizing the software process that has ever (...) been an issue of research, is to enhance the understanding and communication among software process users. To achieve this aim, a modelling formalism has to offer a common language to be wellunderstood by all software process users. BPMN presents a graphical-based widely accepted standard formalism, mainly aimed at business process modelling. This paper illustrates a software process modelling formalism based upon BPMN specifications for representing the software process, named as, SP2MN. The paper also demonstrates the applicability and evaluation of the proposed formalism by; utilizing the standard ISPW-6 benchmark problem, in addition to comparing the expressiveness of SP2MN with similar software process modelling formalisms. The evaluations prove that SP2MN contributes in enhancing software process formalization. SP2MN, accordingly, can be used as a standard software process modelling formalism. (shrink)

Coordination is a key problem for addressing goal–action gaps in many human endeavors. We define interpersonal coordination as a type of communicative action characterized by low interpersonal belief and goal conflict. Such situations are particularly well described as having collectively “intelligent”, “common good” solutions, viz., ones that almost everyone would agree constitute social improvements. Coordination is useful across the spectrum of interpersonal communication—from isolated individuals to organizational teams. Much attention has been paid to coordination in teams and organizations. In this (...) paper we focus on the looser interpersonal structures we call active support networks, and on technology that meets their needs. We describe two needfinding investigations focused on social support, which examined four application areas for improving coordination in ASNs: academic coaching, vocational training, early learning intervention, and volunteer coordination; and existing technology relevant to ASNs. We find a thus-far unmet need for personal task management software that allows smooth integration with an individual’s active support network. Based on identified needs, we then describe an open architecture for coordination that has been developed into working software. The design includes a set of capabilities we call “social prompting”, as well as templates for accomplishing multi-task goals, and an engine that controls coordination in the network. The resulting tool is currently available and in continuing development. We explain its use in ASNs with an example. Follow-up studies are underway in which the technology is being applied in existing support networks. (shrink)

This paper contains a discussion of striking similarities between influential philosophical concepts of the past and the approaches currently employed in selected areas of computer science. In particular, works of the Pythagoreans, Plato, Abelard, Ash’arites, Malebranche and Berkeley are presented and contrasted with such computer science ideas as digital computers, object-oriented programming, the modelling of an object’s actions and causality in virtual environments, and 3D graphics rendering. The intention of this paper is to provoke the computer science community to go (...) off the beaten path in order to find inspiration for the development of new approaches in software engineering. (shrink)

These days, Thin-client devices are continuously accessing the Internet to perform/receive diversity of services in the cloud. However these devices might either has lack in their capacity (e.g., processing, CPU, memory, storage, battery, resource allocation, etc) or in their network resources which is not sufficient to meet users satisfaction in using Thin-client services. Furthermore, transferring big size of Big Data over the network to centralized server might burden the network, cause poor quality of services, cause long respond delay, and inefficient (...) use of network resources. To solve this issue, Thinclient devices such as smart mobile device should be connected to edge computing which is a localized near to user location and more powerful to perform computing or network resources. In this paper, we introduce a new method that constructs its architecture on Thin-client -edge computing collaboration. Furthermore, present our new strategy for optimizing big data distribution in cloud computing. Moreover, we propose algorithm to allocate resources to meet Service Level Agreement (SLA) and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. Our simulation result shows that our proposed approach can improve resource allocation efficiently and shows better performance than other existing methods. (shrink)

The selection of a proper management methodology plays a central role in releasing a successful software project. Selective Software Project Management Methodology (SSPMM) is a framework that enables software personnel to select the methodology that suits their software project. It fills the gap of controlling and progress tracking related to software projects according to the chosen development methodology. Furthermore, it allows a software project manager to schedule tasks in each software development phase. In addition, it monitors how a certain task (...) is accomplished and whether it succeeds or fails, and observes the time required for each task according to the timetable determined previously. SSPMM is built based on a combination of two Agile methodologies: XP and Scrum. In addition to realizing the SSPMM by developing a prototype, the framework was tested and evaluated based on both technical and end-user perspectives. (shrink)

This paper is concerned with the construction of theories of software systems yielding adequate predictions of their target systems’ computations. It is first argued that mathematical theories of programs are not able to provide predictions that are consistent with observed executions. Empirical theories of software systems are here introduced semantically, in terms of a hierarchy of computational models that are supplied by formal methods and testing techniques in computer science. Both deductive top-down and inductive bottom-up approaches in the discovery of (...) semantic software theories are refused to argue in favour of the abductive process of hypothesising and refining models at each level in the hierarchy, until they become satisfactorily predictive. Empirical theories of computational systems are required to be modular, as modular are most software verification and testing activities. We argue that logic relations must be thereby defined among models representing different modules in a semantic theory of a modular software system. We exclude that scientific structuralism is able to define module relations needed in software modular theories. The algebraic Theory of Institutions is finally introduced to specify the logic structure of modular semantic theories of computational systems. (shrink)

Epistemic opacity vis a vis human agents has been presented as an essential, ineliminable characteristic of computer simulation models resulting from the characteristics of the human cognitive agent. This paper argues, on the contrary, that such epistemic opacity as does occur in computer simulations is not a consequence of human limitations but of a failure on the part of model developers to adopt good software engineering practice for managing human error and ensuring the software artefact is maintainable. One consequence of (...) such failures is to create a “technical debt” which manifests itself in the so-called novel confirmation holism confronted by complex systems models. The argument from the supposed essential epistemic opacity of computational science to a non-anthropocentric epistemology runs counter to best practice in software engineering and overlooks empirical results of software engineering science. (shrink)

Cloud computing has provided many opportunities to businesses and individuals. It enables global and on demand network access to a shared pool of resources with minimal management effort. However, this bliss has become a problem for latency-sensitive applications. To improve efficiency of cloud and to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transported to the cloud for data processing, analysis and storage, a new network architect technology 'Fog Computing' has been introduced. In fog computing, small applications and resources (...) are processed at the edge of the cloud, rather than processing entire applications on the cloud. (shrink)

In this article, we raise ethical concerns about the potential misuse of open-source biology : biological research and development that progresses through an organisational model of radical openness, deskilling, and innovation. We compare this organisational structure to that of the open-source software model, and detail salient ethical implications of this model. We demonstrate that OSB, in virtue of its commitment to openness, may be resistant to governance attempts.

In the last two decades, software process modeling has been an area of interest within both academia and industry. Software process modeling aims at defining and representing software processes in the form of models. A software process model represents the medium that allows better understanding, management and control of the software process. Software process metamodeling rather, provides standard metamodels which enable the defining of customized software process models for a specific project in hand by instantiation. Several software process modeling/meta-modeling languages (...) have been introduced to formalize software process models. Nonetheless, none of them has managed to introduce a compatible yet precise language to include all necessary concepts and information for software process modeling. This paper presents Software Process Meta-Modeling and Notation (SP2MN); a meta-modeling language that provides simple and expressive graphical notations for the aim of software process modeling. SP2MN has been evaluated based upon the well-known ISPW-6 process example, a standard benchmark problem for software process modeling. SP2MN has proved that it presents a valid and expressive software process modeling language. (shrink)

30 years ago J.D. Bolter coined the term ’defining technology’. It is the technology which shapes culture and the mentality of human beings. Defining technology describes the role of technology as a source of cognitive metaphors. We are interesting in the metaphors which have an influence on the philosophical thinking. Bolter argued that digital computer was a defining technology of the late 20th century. He created also the the concept of ’Turing’s Man’. It is a man shaped by interactions with (...) digital computers. Bolter’s book has appeared when the computer networks were not popular and were not global. J.C.R. Licklider’s ideas were known only by specialists. Globalisation of networking demands the redefinition of Bolter’s concept. We could use the term ’Licklider’s Man’ instead of ’Turing’s Man’. We should pose the question, if the networking is the sole contemporary defining technology. Do the software or services could be a defining technology? Does the natural computing could change our concept of defining technology? (shrink)

Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software is a category of free and open source software that improves the human condition. HFOSS projects focus on a range of societal needs including microfinance, healthcare, education, and disaster relief. Many HFOSS projects are developed by international teams whose goal is to make the world a better place. These projects are often primarily used in developing nations, but many have been adopted across the world because of the robustness of the software and the ability (...) to contribute to its direction and applications. HFOSS projects have been successfully infused into the computing curriculum at a number of institutions in a range of ways and courses [1]. The benefits of introducing students to HFOSS projects potentially includes improved students learning, increased motivation to study computing, attracting women to computing and increased appreciation of the societal impact of computing. HFOSS projects are an excellent real-world learning environment for a number of reasons: - The altruistic nature of HFOSS makes the community welcoming of new contributors and tolerant of student participation - The ability to help others is a potential draw for women and under-represented minorities - The transparency of HFOSS projects provides artifacts that can use for instructional purposes in the classroom - Students can build a visible portfolio of their contributions to show potential employers. However, determining which project to choose, how to incorporate HFOSS into a class and deciding how to assess students' participation, can be challenging. OpenFE is an NSF-funded project whose goal is to help faculty members introduce their students to HFOSS and become contributing members in HFOSS communities. Faculty typically start with choosing a project, then learning about the chosen project, getting up to speed on the tools and communication used by the project and getting a handle on the work flow. Then faculty members have to figure out how to integrate the project into their existing curriculum and determine how to assess the student performance. The goal of the OpenFE project is to help faculty through the hurdles presented by joining an HFOSS project. (shrink)

Artefacts do not always do what they are supposed to, due to a variety of reasons, including manufacturing problems, poor maintenance, and normal wear-and-tear. Since software is an artefact, it should be subject to malfunctioning in the same sense in which other artefacts can malfunction. Yet, whether software is on a par with other artefacts when it comes to malfunctioning crucially depends on the abstraction used in the analysis. We distinguish between “negative” and “positive” notions of malfunction. A negative malfunction, (...) or dysfunction, occurs when an artefact token either does not or cannot do what it is supposed to. A positive malfunction, or misfunction, occurs when an artefact token may do what is supposed to but, at least occasionally, it also yields some unintended and undesirable effects. We argue that software, understood as type, may misfunction in some limited sense, but cannot dysfunction. Accordingly, one should distinguish software from other technical artefacts, in view of their design that makes dysfunction impossible for the former, while possible for the latter. (shrink)

Researchers in virtually every discipline rely on sophisticated proprietary software for their work. However, some researchers are unable to afford the licenses and instead procure the software illegally. We discuss the prohibition of software piracy by intellectual property laws, and argue that the moral basis for the copyright law offers the possibility of cases where software piracy may be morally justified. The ethics codes that scientific institutions abide by are informed by a rule-consequentialist logic: by preserving personal rights to authored (...) works, people able to do so will be incentivized to create. By showing that the law has this rule-consequentialist grounding, we suggest that scientists who blindly adopt their institutional ethics codes will commit themselves to accepting that software piracy could be morally justified, in some cases. We hope that this conclusion will spark debate over important tensions between ethics codes, copyright law, and the underlying moral basis for these regulations. We conclude by offering practical solutions for researchers. (shrink)

Computer simulations play a key role in many domains of contemporary science. The question of how they transform science has received a lot of scholarly attention. Many have concentrated on outlining the epistemological similarities and differences between simulation and experiment and theory and on the diversity of kinds of modelling and representing found across domains of science. A third direction, which I explore here, looks instead at how working with computers, and working in software environments in particular, gives this kind (...) of computational science research its distinctive character. Following Knuuttila, I.. (shrink)

For over 50 years, since the development of nuclear-armed ICBMs, the USA has sought a way to defend against them. These efforts evolved through various strategies and technologies: from nuclear-tipped rockets through space-based laser weapons to today’s system of ground-based kinetic-kill interceptors. Public debate around these issues reached a peak in the 1980s with President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars.Rebecca Slayton examines this history in Arguments that Count, a valuable and well-told account of a particular aspect (...) of missile defense: computer software. Missile defense required identifying a hostile missile launch, keeping track of thousands of incoming warheads on their ballistic trajectories, and directing interceptors to the right place—and doing all this in less than 30 minutes. From the outset, designers turned to computers to do the complex calculations quickly enough. But missile defense presented an additional factor, in that any m .. (shrink)