Augie Hill

Inter-Market Competition of Reputation Infrastructure: An Agent Based Approach

How do you evaluate the relative merits of reputation systems? In this paper from the winter of 2011, I take the approach of letting little computer programs decide which e-commerce market they would prefer.

Abstract

E-commerce markets are prone to cheating between participants because of the anonymity of Internet interactions and the lack of governmental jurisdictional authority to prosecute cheaters. For this reason, there has been much research and development into mechanisms that prevent cheating. Sets of mechanisms that seek to reduce or ...

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Analysis of Sumazi

How do you efficiently connect people with similar needs or interests? Sumazi is a tool which attempts to do this in the most general sense. In my User Generated Content course this past semester, I (quickly) wrote a paper describing and analyzing the underlying problem and the incentive properties of Sumazi ...

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Peer-to-Peer Tangible Goods Rental Publication

What are the best ways to share stuff? Real stuff, not just bits. Believe it or not, this is an open question, but one of the most significant ones facing our society today.

Off-and-on since working with Bebarang two summers ago, I've been studying online mechanisms for the rental of tangible goods. This work has culminated in a publication at the Trading Agent Design and Analysis / Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce (TADA/AMEC) workshop being held in early June, 2012 alongside the Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS) conference in Valencia, Spain.

I've learned much while working on this project with ...

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I Want Google+ To Replace My Blog

As is obvious, I haven't updated this area with any new posts since I started school last year. I've been too busy with classes, research projects, and a summer internship with Google, which was way awesome. I'll be posting about my school research projects as they get nearer to publication.

For now, I just feel like making a quick point. While I was interning this summer, Google+ happened. It was a really fun time to be working with the company.

There's a ton of potential for innovation in the Google+ ecosystem, especially for third parties. What I would like to see ...

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Google Fiber For Ann Arbor

Updated August 28, 2011

Google chose Kansas City for the fiber experiment. Bummer!

Why do you support Google Fiber for Ann Arbor?

Google Fiber is the cutting edge infrastructure that will define the technology the world uses in the next century. The higher-fidelity information streams will enable a new family of tools for all industries. Making Ann Arbor the first place in the world for the next round of technological improvements would bring much attention, opportunity, and prosperity to the city and region.

How would this benefit the city?

Ann Arbor would undoubtedly see a rapid influx of hardware and software industry leaders as they seek to invent ...

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Beer Can Breathalyzer

I felt like playing around with DIY electronics, so I built a breathalyzer. It's not an accurate breathalyzer as much as it is a game to see who can get the highest "score". The best part: I housed it in a beer can, so when you blow into it, it looks like you're taking a drink.

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