Informatica

In sport tournaments where teams compete in match play format, the pairing of players in matches is critical to the final outcomes. This paper presents simulation models using only commonplace spreadsheet software to analyze and compare strategies in such pairings based on actual or estimated performance of individual players. The approach can be a useful decision support tool for captains and coaches of competing teams in collegiate conferences, club leagues, or international sport tournaments.

The amount of products and services available over the Internet increases significantly and it soon becomes beyond users ability to analyze and compare them. At the same time the number of potential customers available via the Internet also increases dramatically and starts to be beyond the service providers ability to perform efficient targeted marketing. A possible way for relaxing the above-mentioned limitations could be in usage of electronic assistants, both for customers and providers. Such assistants may serve as mediators for commercial Internet-based activity. Software agents could play role of such mediators representing customers and providers in the network. In this paper we present our experience and a solution to using agent technology in customer services management for mobile users. The solution is intended to increase granularity and personalization in targeted advertising while ensuring customer privacy. The proposed solution has been implemented in a prototype system for providing services for users of mobile devices.

An overview and comparison of mobile agent systems are presented. The rapidly evolving area of software agents is briefly overviewed. The notion of mobility is analyzed in the context of mobile code languages, and its relation to distributed computing (e.g., client–server model), as well as its possible application areas are studied. Finally the need for a combination of mobility with other features is discussed.