Sorin Adam Matei

The buzz exchange

Sorin Adam Matei

In the context of our generalized enthusiasm for prediction markets, Yahoo! has been running for some time a Buzz Game. Essentially a fame stock exchange for communication technologies, players are allowed to invest 10,000 virtual dollars in the fates and fortunes of various technologies (Linux, GPL, MS Word, Office, Ajax, PHP, etc.). I invested some dough in PHPWA, MOZILLA, XBOX and PLAYSTATION. I am currently losing on Mozilla and XBOX (the latter in an expected post Xmas slump), but doing fairly well on the Playstation and PHPWA side.

To be honest, beyond the fun factor, I found the game quite useful. I have been looking for some time for a Linux-on-a-CD distribution (after trying with only mediocre results LinspireLive and MandrakeMove). According to the Buzz Game the highest rated technologies of this kind are Ubuntu and Knoppix (actually they are head and shoulders above everybody else). I am currently downloading Unbuntu and I will let you know if it really is “all that.” (The main trouble I had with LL and MM was an absence of drivers for wireless adapters and inability to easily access the local HD).

Sorin Adam Matei

Assistant Vice President for Partnerships in Strategic Defense Innnovation and Professor of Communication at Purdue University, Director of the FORCES initiative leads research teams that study the relationship between technological and social systems using big data, simulation, and mapping approaches. He published papers and articles in Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Information Society, National Interest, and Foreign Policy. He is the author or co-editor of several books. The most recent is Structural differentation in social media. He also co-edited Ethical Reasoning in Big Data,Transparency in social media and Roles, Trust, and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets: Theory and Methods (Computational Social Sciences) , all three the product of the NSF funded KredibleNet project. Dr. Matei's teaching portfolio includes technology and strategy, online interaction, and digital media analytics classes. A former BBC World Service journalist, his contributions have been published in Esquire and several leading Romanian newspapers. In Romania, he is known for his books Boierii Mintii (The Mind Boyars), Idolii forului (Idols of the forum), and Idei de schimb (Spare ideas).

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