Latest Term Paper

A case of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: a note on determining valuable originators in preferential attachment networks

Abstract:

Using computer simulations of preferential attachment networks we find support for the hypothesis that ‘well connected’ nodes (as defined by standard parameters of network centrality) are ideal candidates to be chosen as originators in a social network. We do this by successfully clustering candidate originator nodes into three distinct groups based on their corresponding diffusion characteristic and then commenting on their centrality parameters.

February 22nd, 2010 / 0 Comments / Trackback

Game Theory Update

One of the classes I’m attending is Prof. Arijit Sen’s famous class on Game Theory.

Prof. Sen is if you remember is my favourite professor here. This time, here is another gem from the extensive class notes and reading material he hands out before class.

This is from an extended example about analyzing and solving co-ordination problems using Game Theory. The example talks about two researchers Bob and Alice working on a paper from two remote locations. The final paragraph (each paragraph is a separate co-ordinaton problem).

June 29th, 3 pm: Their paper has been accepted for publication. In an elated state of mind, each is now planning to go for a vacation either to a Napa Valley resort or to a Santa Barbara beach resort. But here, they face the following problem. During their collaboration, Bob has come to enjoy Alice’s company so much that he wants to go to the same resort that Alice will be going to. Alice, on the other hand, considers Bob to be a good professional colleague but not a ‘close friend’. Wanting to keep things that way, she does not want to go to the same resort as Bob, but neither does she want to tell this to Bob and hurt his feelings. Given that they are selecting their vacation destinations sitting in their respective laboratories, how should they choose?

January 21st, 2010 / 0 Comments / Tags: acads, sen, game theory / Trackback

Term 4 at IIMC

I’ve been putting off writing this blog post for some time now. But here it is. After being unfaithful to this blog and meandering in many directions I return to give you a long post about second year at IIM Calcutta.

I spent the 4th semester at IIM Calcutta taking a mammoth 6 subjects and also writing a term paper with Priya Now for placements in IIM Calcutta your marks are frozen till term 4 (that is your term 4 rank is everything for final placements) so everyone puts max fight in order to do the best they can. My way of doing that was to play to my my strengths (d’uh!), which meant I chose subjects involving technology and business strategy.

So my course list turned out to be

1. “Business Integration using IT” (Prof. Monideepa Tarafdar) – decent course with lots of cases about IT usage at “integration points”

2. “Computation Intelligence in Finance” – where we studied AI tools to build financial indicators and the like. The prof complicated this subject too much for me (since I have no prior knowledge to AI) but overall I learnt how such things could potentially be used in quant-jocking. I’m not sure I will be able to do it myself.

3. “Services HRM” : I took this course because I thought it wont be too much work. I didnt expect to really like it either. As it turns out I was wrong on both counts. I like it a lot (it deals with the pressures faced by front line staff and the like) – it was a good combination of psych-stuff and strategy. Nice cases too. We also did a field report by visiting how Subway designed their HR system to ensure that their frontline is not too stressed out.

4. Product Management : IIM Calcutta faculty in marketing is really terrible. This course exemplifies that. I took this course thinking it would be the kind of product management that a PM or an APM at Google/Microsoft does. Turn out it was more for the HLL guy who is in charge of Sunsilk. Even in that scope the guy did a terrible, terrible job. I know nothing more about product management after this course. My only take away was that I got an A.

5. “Business Data Mining” : Absolutely loved this course. Talks about using stats to find patterns in data. The professors kept the material simple and approachable and focused on hands-on problem solving. The small class size helped.

6. “Analysis of ICT Markets”: This was a new course which talks about information communication technologies. Basically a lot of discussion and debate on public policy in these areas. Stuff like should regulators allow new players in telephony, number portability, net neutrality etc. My takeaway from the course was that I had great discussion twice a week on things that I am really keyed into. Not sure I personally “learnt” more after this. Got a terrible, terrible grade in this which screwed my term CG – but I dunno what else I could’ve done.

7. “Term paper”: The term paper that I wrote is called “DO WIKI-PAGES HAVE PARENTS? AN ARTICLE-LEVEL INQUIRY INTO WIKIPEDIA’S INEQUALITIES”. What I essentially did was culled edit history from wikipedia and used that as my dataset. Our hypotheses were that a) wiki-pages are shepherded by a few users, their “parents” and b) such parented pages are better in quality than the orphans. We found solid support only for a). The biggest takeaway was that this got accepted at WITS 2009 ( a decently high-level conf held in association with ICIS, the biggest, most important conf in the area) in Phoenix,AZ where I am headed in December.

So that concluded the academic summary of my term 4. This term also marked the entry of a whole new clan of 400 IIMCians – the 46th batch. Felt weird at first watching how the same things happen over and over again. Its kinda like that snowflake fractal (the Koch curve) – small repeating patterns that make the whole thing quite spectacular.

The term I did nothing more than write reports for each of the classes above. Very tiring! We also recruited a super team at jokatimes.com and I worked in vain to get things moving at the IIMC-website revamp. And prepared stupid documentation for my student exchange in Belgium. (at UC Louvain )

The next post will have more details on my trip here.

November 16th, 2009 / 2 Comments / Tags: acads, term 4, wikipedia / Trackback

First Mover Advantage

There are many things he does not tell me. What he does all day for example. He claims to be a “researcher”. Contributing to the world’s knowledge and all that. I have no idea how sitting alone in a room all day you can do anything much. But then, I believe him. But then again, I’m not like him.

I work at McDonald’s.

I could also claim to contribute to World … erm, World Hunger or something. If nothing I at least contribute to those zeros that they put up at those tall signs on each of our outlets. The ones which say ‘so many morons served’ or something. But then I don’t. Because I have no pretensions about life. You are born, you go to prom, you fuck, you have kids and you shrivel and die one day in an obscure bed somewhere in front of a few idiots who think its worth their while to buy white lillies for you. And that is if you are lucky. Else your life is screwed before it even began. Each one lives for himself – and no one ‘contributes’ to some invisible global coffer of knowledge. Just to that very visible coffer in their local bank.

He also refuses to tell me why he insists on wearing those stupid white sneakers and the same pair of jeans every day and why he still drives that idiotic old Saab of his. I mean he has enough money to buy one of those fucken’ German beauties. Yet he sticks with Swedish trash. He tells me he is going to graduate in a year, and that it is probably the low point of his graduate life. His research isn’t getting anywhere either. Why that should affect his clothing – I have no fucken idea. I work at a blasted McDonald’s all day, but hell – that doesn’t mean I turn out all the time in a grey shirt and a smelly pair of jeans. I sure like to spend that dough at those boutiques on Charles Street. And sometimes I wished that he’d just wear the stuff I buy him. Not fucken’ bitch about it all day! Like Mr. Parsons at the outlet when I overdo the fries. Both of them go to my fucken’ head.

I’ve decided. I’m going to end it. I’ve met this other guy – Jim. He’s not bad. At least he doesn’t write computer programs while I’m lying on the bed – the only thing missing a placard asking him to have sex with me. Sure, Jim’s a fat idiot who doesn’t know shit about anything. But that is a trade-off a girl who serves fries all day has to live with.

I’ve even worked out how I’m going to do it. I’m going to make a YouTube video and post it online. And then use his email account to send it out to all our friends. Its for his own good. If I don’t do this, he’ll end up alone, miserable and will wake up one day in a puddle of his own filth wondering why his life turned out the way it did. I even know what I’m going to say:

“Dear Michael, I want to tell you that I’m breaking up with you. I am a 24 year old waitress who stays with her mom and watches Gosspi Girl all day. And you can’t even keep ME happy! You need to get out of your fucken’ shell and appreciate other people. Take care of them. Be tender. And all those words you call ‘stupid’ and ‘sentimental’. Well, guess what? They’re important. They’re fucken important Michael! Its high time you realised that. It’s over. O-V-E-R!”

***

(Meanwhile across town in a tiny lab this email is being written)

“Sara,

Unfortunately I cannot continue to go out with you any more. I thought that if for a change I dated a ‘normal’ girl I would be happy. I thought I could make you understand the wonders of the world. The magic behind everything around us. How things come together. How they break apart. But I’m afraid your case is irretrievable. And unless you improve and make an effort to be more interested and curious about what happens about us, learn to appreciate and marvel at how things just work your life will remain as dull and uninteresting as it is now. Sara, in a curious kind of way, I do love you and I want you to be happy.

That is why I’m copying this email to all of our friends.

I hope you will forgive me.

Michael.”

***

76 people in and around Boston now have two new messages in their inbox.

July 27th, 2009 / 0 Comments / Tags: story, writing / Trackback