Kari Heikkinen

QoS/GOS Parameter Definitions and Measurement in IP/ATM Networks

The Internet is developing from a data network supporting best-effort service to a network offering several classes of service. An operator of an IP-network should monitor the achieved QoS for each class using suitable measurement points and measurement methods. The paper compares briefly IPPM and I.380 IP-level QoS (Quality of Service) -parameter definitions and points out their problems: the selection of the measurement points and the use of test traffic based measurements. The paper gives more suitable definitions for QoS and GOS (Grade of Service)-parameters for the IP level, discusses measurement issues of loss and transfer rate, proposes and illustrates via an example a network management based QoS-monitoring system.

Usability study of ME2.0

Mobile context-aware applications execute in the background of hosts mobile devices. The applications source process and aggregate hosts’ contextual and personal information. This information is disclosed to ubiquitously pervasive services that adapt their offerings to individual preferences. Unfortunately, many developers continue to ignore the user perspective in context-aware application designs as they complicate their overall task and generate exponential requirements. The additional incorporation of privacy mechanisms in context-aware applications to safeguard context and personal information disclosures also complicates users’ tasks resulting to misconfigured or completely abandoned applications. Misconfigured applications give end-users a false assurance of privacy exposing them to comprising services. We present a usability study on Mobile Electronic Personality Version 2 a privacy enhanced context-aware mobile application for personalising ubiquitous services and adapting pervasive smart-spaces. We draw conclusions on key issues related to user needs, based on user interviews, surveys, prototypes and field evaluations. Users’ needs are evaluated against five themes, learn-ability, efficiency, memorability, errors, satisfaction and privacy contention. In addition, design layout preferences, privacy manageability and consensus design comprehension are also evaluated. Clarity of priorities in context-aware mobile applications shaped by usability studies effectively increases the acceptance of levels of potential users.

Study of Human Anxiety on the Internet

In this paper a conceptualization of human anxiety on the Internet is introduced; it is built on the understanding of human behavior with regard to technology. The objective of this paper is to conceptualize the human anxiety. An integral part of understanding is an inter-disciplinary (psychology science, cognitive science, behavioral science and communication technology) literature review, of which and overall summary is presented. The understanding is conceptualized by designing, implementing and evaluating through a developed user study model. In this paper the preliminary result of utilizing the developed user study found seven particular anxiety areas which need further studies.

Use of Peer-Review System for Enhancing Learning of Programming

In this paper we present a study where a peer reviewing system targeted for conference paper evaluation has been used for enhancing the learning of programming though peer review. For peer reviewing purposes two open source systems were evaluated and MyReview was selected for evaluation. The peer review system was used in one programming focused course and the benefits of peer reviewing were analyzed from the reviewer and reviewee point of view. The results show that a peer review system targeted for conference paper evaluations is applicable for reviewing programs although the system should be much simpler. Students appreciated the documented comments from other students but were more interested in lecturer or other expert opinion.

Internet Anxiety: Myth or Reality?

The purpose of this paper is to determine if Internet anxiety is a myth or reality using literature, questionnaires, and analysis of the collected data. Results showed that the Internet anxiety phenomenon is mostly reality. By placing strong emphasis on the existent Internet anxiety phenomenon, the HCI community could constructively build effective tools and techniques to mitigate users’ anxiety.

Finding a relationship between internet anxiety and human behavior

This chapter introduces a relationship between Internet anxiety and human behavior. The Internet has become an avenue for service provision, third-party applications, connectivity and social media. Thus, a clear understanding and comprehensive description of the relationship between Internet anxiety and human behavior becomes essential. The objective of this paper is to provide an assessment of the behavior and anxiety patterns of different age groups on the Internet. The study contributes to knowledge on human behavior and Internet anxiety. The preliminary investigation was realized with a small number of participants using qualitative research methodologies, including a structured themed interview. The result indicates that participants felt more anxiousness on Internet time delay anxiety, Experience anxiety, and Net Search anxiety.

Usability of Music for Social Inclusion of Children

This article is an overview of the system and architecture requirements of middleware for the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)-funded usability of music for social inclusion of children (UMSIC) project. The main objective of the UMSIC project is to use modern mobile technologies to increase social inclusion among children. In this article, the general architecture and the components of the UMSIC middleware are described and its relation to the requirements set by the scenarios is presented. In addition, the relation of the UMSIC project and PeerHood, an existing implementation of peer-to-peer communications and neighborhood concept, is described.

From tacit to acknowledged knowledge

This paper presents a proposal to acknowledge the importance of tacit course knowledge to students and transform this knowledge into a valuable asset. When a student or an employer reads course descriptions they usually miss a lot of important information. Course descriptions and the transcript of records normally state only the professional goals. In this paper we show an analysis of courses delivered in Information Technology department and analyze the skills, which are acquired from tacit knowledge throughout the curricula. We propose that this tacit knowledge should be analyzed, published and advertised both to students and employers.

Quantifying cultural attributes for understanding human behavior on the internet

Understanding human behavior on the Internet is a complex problem. One important part of the problem is measuring cultural attributes and their effect on human behavior. A clear understanding and comprehensive description of the link between human behavior and cultural attributes is essential for quantifying behavioral change. The objective of this paper is to introduce the result of a survey in which (n = 152) university participants participated in quantifying cultural attributes. The study results suggest that human behavior on the Internet can be linked to various cultural attributes. Notably the qualitative feedback and quantitative statistical results found following the cultural attributes to be important: safety, privacy, self, intuition and networking.

A survey for measuring internet anxiety types

In this paper, we describe a paper-based survey for measuring seven Internet anxiety types. A paper-based survey was distributed among seventy university participants and forty-nine responded with a valid response. The evaluation and analysis of seven types of Internet anxiety revealed internal consistency and acceptable reliability. The findings also suggested for omitting non-significant Internet anxiety types. The results showed that a user feeling while browsing is independent on level of familiarity with the Internet contents.