Cathy Wang

The idea of hub exists not only in the social network; moreover, it can be considered in an online space. Even though it is suggested by Barabasi that hub is nautrally formed, the question of “can we create hub?” emerged in my mind.

As I previously suggested, I have noticed the “key person” or the connector in a social context where a person that connects different clusters together. To think of the idea of hub in a cyberspace context, we can consider yahoo as a hub because there are so many page pointed to yahoo. If we were to create a person as a connector in a society, we would have to push the person to a very social level. (The example of social climbers who try to meet all different people all the time can be considered a creation of … Read More »

A real network is usually governed by the laws of growth and preferential attachment. The assumption of a network from Erdo and Renyi does not perfectly describe how real networks work. Their assumption describe a fixed number of nodes and all the nodes are equivalent so they are linked randomly to each other. If we only have a fixed number of nodes we’ll end up wit a static network. In real network, it is dynamic because there is always growth. New nodes are added into the network from time to time. This step underscores the fact that networks are assembled one node at a time. When new nodes are added in, they do not just link to any other random nodes. The nodes will more likely connect to the one that has more connected node. It also brings up the … Read More »

From the reading of Barabasi, the goal of graph theory can be considered as an aim to discover and catalogue the properties of the various graphs. I would like to see the formation of random graphs as a process of finding simple solution to a complex system.

we have noticed the preferential attachment law in application while we search on google. It is more likely that we click the hub.

I have found this other search engine (it’s a beta version and it does not search too well) called eurekster. This search engine would make the links that your friends linked to already on top. In a sense it’s an anti-preferential attachment. In another sense, it is creating its own preference. Instead of following the real hub, this search engine enables you to create your own hub in your own personal network.

Network connects different diverse maps together by following a common blueprint. “A string of recent breath-taking discoveries has forced us to acknowledge that amazingly simple and far-reaching natural laws govern the structure and evolution of all the complex networks that surround us.” (Barabasi, 2002) Everything are connected. We do not noticed that we are all connected in this small world. Webblog as an example of connecting everyone. From the book Linked by Albert Laszlo Barabasi, the example of Paul and the beginning of Christianity emphasize the idea of spreading knowledge as a network system. In comparison to the example of MafiaBoy, which utilizes internet as a network. Internet sure spreads faster than Paul walking pass all the communities he did; however, this raised my question: “would Paul succeed if he was using internet?”

Thinking about Paul and MafiaBoy reminded me of … Read More »