Digital Dystopia

Autocratic regimes, democratic majorities, private platforms, and religious or professional organizations can achieve social control by managing the flow of information about individuals’ behavior. Bundling the agents’ political, organizational, or religious attitudes with information about their prosocial conduct makes them care about behaviors that they otherwise would not. The incorporation of the individuals’ social graph in their social score further promotes soft control but destroys the social fabric. Both bundling and guilt by association are most effective in a society that has weak ties and is politically docile. (JEL D64, D72, D83, D91, K38, Z13)

Logical model of mobile object control

This paper describes a logical model applied as a soft control tool to mobile objects. The model of the logical spatial situation without uncertainty, i.e., according to the law of excluded middle, is considered as the basis. Nonetheless, the motion rules are derived using an approach applied in constructible mathematics and logic. The approach consists in the finitude of variants of control and analyzing all potential traffic scenarios. The constructible object considered in this paper is the situation’s logical model. The constructible approach consists in considering the model of a typical railway station by the example of which the traffic is analyzed. The situation’s logical model is implemented as a condition for potential traffic. This model is described using mathematical logic with the help of logical variables and rules. The control system in this case makes use of permissible versions of logical designs. The control relies on the feasibility of traffic. The system of control rules is developed on the basis of the logical situation’s model and formed without uncertainty. The article provides an analysis of complementary kinds of traffic.

ANALISIS IMPLEMENTASI SISTEM PENGENDALIAN INTERNAL PEMERINTAHAN DALAM SIKLUS PENGELOLAAN KEUANGAN NEGARA

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui kelemahan penerapan sistem pengendalian internal di lingkungan Pemerintah Pusat, dan bentuk implementasi sistem pengendalian internal di pemerintah pusat serta kendala dalam menerapkan Sistem Pengendalian Internal Pemerintah di Pemerintah Pusat, dan memberikan rekomendasi solusi dalam mengatasi kendala penerapan tersebut. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif deskriptif dengan studi kasus di Kementerian Pendayagunaan Aparatur Negara dan Reformasi Birokrasi serta Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, pengumpulan data berdasarkan studi literatur, observasi, dan wawancara. Dilaksanakan sejak bulan Juni 2012 – Oktober 2012. Metode analisis menggunakan metode kualitatif-rasionalistik dan analisis isi. Kesimpulan penelitian ini adalah: (1) Kelemahan penerapan sistem pengendalian internal di lingkungan Pemerintah Pusat masih terbagi atas tiga komponen besar, yang merupakan kelemahan pengendalian akuntansi (accounting control/control activities/ hard control) (2) Bentuk implementasi sistem pengendalian internal di pemerintah pusat masih berfokus pada pengembangan komponen pengendalian aktivitas (accounting control), sementara empat komponen lainnya yang merupakan soft control belum dikembangkan dan (3) Kendala dalam menerapkan Sistem Pengendalian Internal Pemerintah di Pemerintah Pusat terutama adalah dukungan dan bantuan dari instansi terkait yang sangat minim, dan ketiadaan pedoman umum untuk mengevaluasi apakah SPIP sudah berjalan dengan baik atau belum. Kata Kunci: Sistem Pengendalian Internal Pemerintahan, Perencanaan dan penganggaran, perbendaharaan, akuntansi, manajemen aset.

Over het meten van gedragsaspecten in organisaties

De term soft control wordt gebruikt voor een keur aan sturings- en beheersmaatregelen die organisaties helpen op koers te blijven. Ze hebben vooral betrekking op gedrag en cultuur. Uit ons inventariserend onderzoek blijkt dat er geen eenduidigheid over de definitie van soft control is en al helemaal niet over de manier waarop soft control wordt uitgewerkt. Hierdoor zijn veel uitwerkingen en meetinstrumenten voor soft control in omloop. In dit artikel vragen we ons af hoe we de kwaliteit van meetinstrumenten voor soft control kunnen beoordelen. Op basis van een aantal methodologische criteria ontwikkelen we een ordeningskader van deze instrumenten. Hiermee scheppen we helderheid in de fascinerende wereld van sociaalwetenschappelijke meetinstrumenten.

Explicit Autonomy, Implicit Control: User Autonomy in the Dichotomous Choice Architecture of Facebook

The article aims to unravel the implicit soft-control of users by Facebook through the framework of choice architecture as proposed by Thaler and Sunstein (2008) in their well-known work Nudge. It explores the dichotomous foundation of Facebook’s choice architecture in which users are given an apparent sense of autonomy while the platform implicitly soft-controls them. This paradoxical power plays functions through two broad types of nudges—activity-inducing nudges and passivity-inducing nudges. The mechanism of functioning of these nudges on Facebook is explored while noting the behavioural patterns they induce among users. Facebook’s transition from information architecture to choice architecture is also explored. Thus, the article aims to contribute to the growing body of work, which has underscored the importance of assessing web 2.0 as the ‘technological unconscious’ which has penetrated everyday life.

Gait planning and control of quadruped crawling robot on a slope

Purpose The gait planning and control of quadruped crawling robot affect the stability of the robot walking on a slope. The control includes the position control in the swing phase, the force control in the support phase and the switching control in the force/position switching. To improve the passing ability of quadruped crawling robot on a slope, this paper aims to propose a soft control strategy. Design/methodology/approach The strategy adopts the statically stable crawling gait as the main gait. As the robot moves forward, the position/force section switching control is adopted. When the foot does not touch the ground, the joint position control based on the variable speed PID is performed. When the foot touches the ground, the position-based impedance control is performed, and a fuzzy multi-model switching control based on friction compensation is proposed to achieve smooth switching of force and position. Findings The proposed method offers a solution for stable passage in slope environment. The quadruped crawling robot can realize smooth switching of force/position, precise positioning in the swing process and soft control of force in the supporting phase. This fact is verified by simulation and test. Originality/value The method presented in this paper takes advantage of minimal tracking errors and minimal jitters. Simulations and tests were performed to evaluate the performance.