an article by Namita Dahiya and Shilpa Mahajan (The NorthCap University, Gurgaon, India) published in International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations Volume 21 Number 2 (2019)
Abstract
With the advancement of technology, today's world is a digital world where digital technology is generating new world of possibilities and opportunities and we are abandoned with digital data over the network that needs to be exchanged with many organisations, devices and users.
This data needs to be a secure data and malware is one type of threat to this data. There are many forms of malware that can damage this sensitive data.
This paper includes various malware detection techniques to detect various known and unknown binaries and presents a detailed analysis of current methods of malware detection and a malware analyser tools.
Hazel’s comment:
I have looked, maybe not as hard or for as long as I could have, for an accessible version of this article. Sure, I can read it in the British Library but that doesn’t help you if you are as interested in this subject as I am.
Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Job Satisfaction and Bad Jobs: Why Are Cleaners So Happy at Work?
an article by Alexandre Léné (Université de Lille, France) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 33 Issue 4 (August 2019)
Abstract
Our analysis is based on the French DARES Working Conditions survey which contains a very large sample of individuals representative of the French working population. We demonstrate that employees working in the cleaning sector report significantly higher levels of satisfaction than the other employees. This statistical result is robust; it persists when we introduce a large number of control variables.
This result is puzzling insofar as it is generally agreed that these workers hold ‘poor quality’ jobs: low pay, an abnormal pattern of work, arduous working conditions.
We suggest that cleaners’ expectations and standards are influenced by an adaptation process. Their job satisfaction needs to be considered in the light of their past experience. Their employment history shapes their wants and needs and thus affects the way they evaluate their work.
Abstract
Our analysis is based on the French DARES Working Conditions survey which contains a very large sample of individuals representative of the French working population. We demonstrate that employees working in the cleaning sector report significantly higher levels of satisfaction than the other employees. This statistical result is robust; it persists when we introduce a large number of control variables.
This result is puzzling insofar as it is generally agreed that these workers hold ‘poor quality’ jobs: low pay, an abnormal pattern of work, arduous working conditions.
We suggest that cleaners’ expectations and standards are influenced by an adaptation process. Their job satisfaction needs to be considered in the light of their past experience. Their employment history shapes their wants and needs and thus affects the way they evaluate their work.
Climate change: A new subject for the law
an article by Anne-Sophie Novel published in UNESCO Courier 2019-3
Youth plaintiffs in the Juliana v. United States constitutional climate change lawsuit participate in the People’s Climate March, Washington DC, 2017.
More and more citizens and non-governmental organizations around the world are going to court to seek climate change justice. The unprecedented extent of these disputes deserves to be highlighted. This relatively recent type of litigation is forging public opinion, and constitutes a form of pressure on states and industries that is forcing them out of their inertia.
The years go by and new records are set for rising temperatures. Greenhouse gases (GHG) continue to increase, and populations the world over are more and more concerned and discontented about the lack of responsiveness of states to the climate change crisis. As a result, the number of lawsuits against climate change inaction is rising sharply.
The first case of this kind in the world was filed in 2013, in the Netherlands. The Urgenda Foundation (link is external), a Dutch environmental group, sued the government for “the failure of the Dutch state to take sufficient actions to prevent dangerous climate change”. At the time, the Netherlands was one of the most polluting countries in the European Union, and the Foundation demanded it take action to reduce the country's emissions by twenty-five per cent to forty per cent by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels).
On 24 June 2015, the District Court of The Hague ruled in favour of Urgenda – a judgement confirmed on 9 October 2018 by the Hague Court of Appeal, based on scientifically established facts and in line with the traditional principle of a government's duty of care. The court ruled that Dutch GHG emissions must be reduced by at least twenty-five per cent. Recognized as the world's first climate liability lawsuit, this ruling sets a precedent that has since inspired other legal actions around the world.
Continue reading
Youth plaintiffs in the Juliana v. United States constitutional climate change lawsuit participate in the People’s Climate March, Washington DC, 2017.
More and more citizens and non-governmental organizations around the world are going to court to seek climate change justice. The unprecedented extent of these disputes deserves to be highlighted. This relatively recent type of litigation is forging public opinion, and constitutes a form of pressure on states and industries that is forcing them out of their inertia.
The years go by and new records are set for rising temperatures. Greenhouse gases (GHG) continue to increase, and populations the world over are more and more concerned and discontented about the lack of responsiveness of states to the climate change crisis. As a result, the number of lawsuits against climate change inaction is rising sharply.
The first case of this kind in the world was filed in 2013, in the Netherlands. The Urgenda Foundation (link is external), a Dutch environmental group, sued the government for “the failure of the Dutch state to take sufficient actions to prevent dangerous climate change”. At the time, the Netherlands was one of the most polluting countries in the European Union, and the Foundation demanded it take action to reduce the country's emissions by twenty-five per cent to forty per cent by 2020 (compared to 1990 levels).
On 24 June 2015, the District Court of The Hague ruled in favour of Urgenda – a judgement confirmed on 9 October 2018 by the Hague Court of Appeal, based on scientifically established facts and in line with the traditional principle of a government's duty of care. The court ruled that Dutch GHG emissions must be reduced by at least twenty-five per cent. Recognized as the world's first climate liability lawsuit, this ruling sets a precedent that has since inspired other legal actions around the world.
Continue reading
Tuesday, 3 September 2019
Improving the psychological measurement of technology-related behaviors
an article by David A. Ellis (Lancaster University, Bailrigg, UK) published in Computers in Human Behavior Volume 97 (August 2019)
Highlights
Abstract
Understanding how people use technology remains important, particularly when measuring the impact this might have on individuals and society. To date, research within psychological science often frames new technology as problematic with overwhelmingly negative consequences.
However, this paper argues that the latest generation of psychometric tools, which aim to assess smartphone usage, are unable to capture technology related experiences or behaviors.
As a result, many conclusions concerning the psychological impact of technology use remain unsound. Current assessments have also failed to keep pace with new methodological developments and these data-intensive approaches challenge the notion that smartphones and related technologies are inherently problematic.
The field should now consider how it might re-position itself conceptually and methodologically given that many ‘addictive’ technologies have long since become intertwined with daily life.
Highlights
- Reviews methods that aim to measure smartphone and related technology usage.
- Highlights inconsistencies between self-report and objective measurements.
- Conclusions surrounding the psychological impact of technology use are problematic.
- Considers how research can conceptually and methodologically move forward.
Abstract
Understanding how people use technology remains important, particularly when measuring the impact this might have on individuals and society. To date, research within psychological science often frames new technology as problematic with overwhelmingly negative consequences.
However, this paper argues that the latest generation of psychometric tools, which aim to assess smartphone usage, are unable to capture technology related experiences or behaviors.
As a result, many conclusions concerning the psychological impact of technology use remain unsound. Current assessments have also failed to keep pace with new methodological developments and these data-intensive approaches challenge the notion that smartphones and related technologies are inherently problematic.
The field should now consider how it might re-position itself conceptually and methodologically given that many ‘addictive’ technologies have long since become intertwined with daily life.
Monday, 2 September 2019
Typologies of loneliness, living alone and social isolation, and their associations with physical and mental health
an article by Kimberley J. Smith (University of Surrey, Guildford, UK) and Christina Victor (Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UK) published in Ageing & Society Volume 39 Issue 8 (August 2019)
Abstract
The relationship between living alone, loneliness and social isolation, and how they are associated with health remain contentious.
We sought to explore typologies based on shared experiences of loneliness, social isolation and living alone using Latent Class Analysis and determine how these groups may differ in terms of their physical and mental health. We used Wave 7 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N = 7,032; mean age = 67.3) and responses to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) loneliness scale, household composition, participation in social/societal activities plus frequency of contact with friends, family and relatives for the Latent Class Analysis.
The optimal number of groups was identified using model-fit criteria. The socio-demographic characteristics of groups and health outcomes were explored using descriptive statistics and logistic regression.
We identified a six-cluster typology:
Full text (PDF 22pp)
Abstract
The relationship between living alone, loneliness and social isolation, and how they are associated with health remain contentious.
We sought to explore typologies based on shared experiences of loneliness, social isolation and living alone using Latent Class Analysis and determine how these groups may differ in terms of their physical and mental health. We used Wave 7 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N = 7,032; mean age = 67.3) and responses to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) loneliness scale, household composition, participation in social/societal activities plus frequency of contact with friends, family and relatives for the Latent Class Analysis.
The optimal number of groups was identified using model-fit criteria. The socio-demographic characteristics of groups and health outcomes were explored using descriptive statistics and logistic regression.
We identified a six-cluster typology:
- Group 1, no loneliness or isolation;
- Group 2, moderate loneliness;
- Group 3, living alone;
- Group 4, moderate isolation;
- Group 5, moderate loneliness, living alone; and
- Group 6, high loneliness, moderate isolation (with high likelihood of living alone).
Full text (PDF 22pp)
“They really don't want to see us”: How cleaners experience invisible ‘dirty’ work
an article by Verónica Caridad Rabelo (San Francisco State University, USA) and Ramaswami Mahalingam (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA) published in Journal of Vocational Behavior Volume 113 (August 2019)
Abstract
Many people want to feel valued and included but being invisible may undermine one's sense of belonging and meaningful engagement. Some employees may face chronic invisibility due to job stigma (e.g., ‘dirty’ work), overnight shifts, and/or spatial separation from coworkers and customers.
We examine how people make sense of feeling invisible at work: what people experience when they are not seen or are treated as though they cannot be seen. We sought to understand when workers feel invisible, how they make sense of these experiences, and the consequences for their work and well-being.
To examine how people experience invisibility, we conducted an inductive phenomenological analysis. Data included open-ended questions from a survey of 199 university building cleaners and in-depth conversations with a subset of 12 cleaners.
Three major themes emerged:
We summarize these findings by conceptualizing invisibility as an intersubjective phenomenon that creates and sustains various critical boundaries at work—between worker/client, dirty/clean, repugnant/respectable, undignified/worthy.
We conclude with a call for greater research on work that is invisible and ‘dirty’, and the people rendered invisible in the process, to make this work more equitable and dignified.
Abstract
Many people want to feel valued and included but being invisible may undermine one's sense of belonging and meaningful engagement. Some employees may face chronic invisibility due to job stigma (e.g., ‘dirty’ work), overnight shifts, and/or spatial separation from coworkers and customers.
We examine how people make sense of feeling invisible at work: what people experience when they are not seen or are treated as though they cannot be seen. We sought to understand when workers feel invisible, how they make sense of these experiences, and the consequences for their work and well-being.
To examine how people experience invisibility, we conducted an inductive phenomenological analysis. Data included open-ended questions from a survey of 199 university building cleaners and in-depth conversations with a subset of 12 cleaners.
Three major themes emerged:
- how cleaners experienced invisibility,
- what invisibility feels like, and
- why they were rendered invisible.
We summarize these findings by conceptualizing invisibility as an intersubjective phenomenon that creates and sustains various critical boundaries at work—between worker/client, dirty/clean, repugnant/respectable, undignified/worthy.
We conclude with a call for greater research on work that is invisible and ‘dirty’, and the people rendered invisible in the process, to make this work more equitable and dignified.
We Need to Stop Making Mental Illness Look Cool On Social Media
a post by Alyson Zetta Williams for i-D US
The trend of falsely portraying anxiety and depression threatens the already fragile well-being of more young people than ever before.
A quick search of #depressed on Instagram brings up over 12 million posts. Interspersed between black and white photos and gifs of crying cartoons are pictures of pretty girls smoking and the occasional sadboi-with-tattoo overlaid with text like "Help me" and "I want to go far away … forever."
These romanticized depictions of mental illness are what mental health professional Aditi Verma calls “beautiful suffering”: a meme-ified version of mental illness that reduces anxiety and depression to a temporary feeling capable of being depicted through dark edits and simplified text.
Continue reading
The trend of falsely portraying anxiety and depression threatens the already fragile well-being of more young people than ever before.
A quick search of #depressed on Instagram brings up over 12 million posts. Interspersed between black and white photos and gifs of crying cartoons are pictures of pretty girls smoking and the occasional sadboi-with-tattoo overlaid with text like "Help me" and "I want to go far away … forever."
These romanticized depictions of mental illness are what mental health professional Aditi Verma calls “beautiful suffering”: a meme-ified version of mental illness that reduces anxiety and depression to a temporary feeling capable of being depicted through dark edits and simplified text.
Continue reading
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