Big Brother Research Articles

Social Representation of Mental Health Disorders in the Italian Big Brother VIP Edition.

Despite the revolutionary impact of new media, television remains a socially shared reference point for media functions, e.g., information, entertainment, and hybridized genres. Through its simplified knowledge and scripts, television reduces cognitive asymmetry between experts and the public on general and specific topics, thus having a critical role in constructing social representations. This work examines two (apparently) distant realities, i.e., mental health as a fundamental aspect of public health and popular and "light" entertainment formats like reality shows. In the past, researchers investigated media representation of mental illness in general terms alongside other types of programs, e.g., coming-of-age, dramedy television series, and children's television programs. This study examines how depression is discursively constructed and socially represented in a case that shook the Italian public opinion, i.e., a Big Brother VIP cast member with depression symptoms. The critical discourse analysis, focusing on positioning and representations about depression, enabled us to emphasize that (1) knowledge about depression is poorly defined and participants' reactions are mostly immature and clumsy, and (2) mass media can play an essential role in creating more mindful and complete knowledge about mental health.

United States v. Jones: Big Brother and the "Common Good" versus the Fourth Amendment and Your Right to Privacy

United States v. Jones: Big Brother and the "Common Good" versus the Fourth Amendment and Your Right to Privacy

Sanitary segregation imposed by Big Brother – a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Grzegorz Braun’s radical anti-vaccine rhetoric

ABSTRACT The coronavirus pandemic greatly impacted political communication. Operating within the framework of Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, this paper discusses the discursive strategies of Grzegorz Braun, one of the leaders of the Confederation Liberty and Independence – a Polish coalition of right-wing parties – by investigating 97 YouTube thumbnails and video titles. The present paper offers an in-depth investigation of Braun’s radical and anti-vaccine discourse, focusing on both the verbal and visual components, and how they form a coherent meaning. The findings indicate that Braun’s main strategy was to instill a sense of fear and danger. Similarly to other right-wing populists, Braun created narratives that the pandemic was a conspiracy crafted by global elites and that the vaccines were a tool for controlling society. However, Braun did not just copy the discourse of other politicians, but adjusted his message to the viewers, as he would make frequent references to the People’s Republic of Poland and compared the Polish government to communists. Overall, while Braun’s message was rather straightforward, the politician used a large variety of semiotic choices, focusing on potent cultural symbols, size, color, as well as intensification and predication strategies.

Big Tech Platforms: What Are the Limits to “Big Brother” Surveillance and Influence?

Big Tech Platforms: What Are the Limits to “Big Brother” Surveillance and Influence?

Nepal-India Relations: Exploring the Dichotomy between 'Big Brother' and 'Brotherhood'

The historical relationship between Nepal and India is deeply rooted in their geographic proximity and shared elements such as religion, culture, language, and socio-economic interests. While Nepal borders both China and India, its closeness with India is accentuated by these shared attributes and mutual opportunities. The two countries share an open border of around 1,780 kilometers along Nepal's eastern, western, and southern regions. Despite India's larger size, population, and more advanced economic development, Nepal maintains its sovereignty and equal status as an independent nation. However, India's role is often perceived as that of a "big brother" to Nepal, reflecting the disparity in size and influence. Nonetheless, all sovereign nations, regardless of their geographic or economic differences, are regarded as equals in status. In an era defined by globalization, scientific advancements, and technological progress, Nepal aspires to build a strong relationship with India based on mutual friendship and economic cooperation, particularly through foreign investment and the exchange of technology. While occasional tensions arise, usually from the Indian side, they have not escalated into major conflicts and are unlikely to do so. It is widely understood that while friendships may fluctuate, the bond between neighbors remains constant. This article examines the various aspects and dynamics of Nepal-India relations within this context.

A FROMMIAN READING OF GEORGE ORWELL’S 1984

Although George Orwell’s 1984 has been interpreted from a variety of theoretical perspectives, the narrative still reveals an opportunity to inquire into novel trajectories of arguments. It provides enough room for a reading especially in light of Erich Fromm’s theoretical views. Erich Fromm is well-known for his criticism of modern society in which sadism, masochism and the crisis of freedom are outstanding features. For Fromm, since the Renaissance, modern individuals have found themselves entangled in a psychological state of loneliness, powerlessness and meaninglessness owing to their attempt to obtain freedom. Leaving behind traditional values and religious faith has not afforded them any freedom that they can be satisfied with; rather, lack of pre-modern values has caused them to embark on a quest for suppression of a feeling of impotence. That’s why, sadist dictators like Big Brother desire to make up for a sense of insignificance by oppressing the masses while the masses become masochists by submitting blindly to his dictatorial authority as an indication of impotence. The novel offers the possibility of finding examples regarding how sadism and masochism foster the maintenance of each other in modern society in which acts of dominating and being dominated are commonly observed due to feelings of loss and emptiness.

Child Sexual Abuse and Boundary Violating Behaviors in Youth Serving Organizations: National Prevalence and Distribution by Organizational Type.

Many youth serving organizations (YSOs) implement child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention strategies. We examined the potential impact of those strategies by retrospectively estimating the prevalence of CSA and boundary violating behaviors experienced in five broad organizational settings: organized sports, religious organizations, music or arts programs, K-12 schools, and the "Big 6 settings" (i.e., 4-H, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the YMCA of the USA). We compared victimization rates between nationally representative cohorts of younger adults (age 18-22; N = 3174) and slightly older adults (age 32-36, N = 3237). Across all participants and settings, 3.75% (n = 363) experienced CSA in YSOs. Among survivors, younger adults reported experiencing a lower proportion of CSA within Big 6 settings than older adults (29.1% vs. 44.5%; p < .05), suggesting that prevention efforts may be having the desired effects in Big 6 settings.

A Deniability Analysis of Signal’s Initial Handshake PQXDH

Many use messaging apps such as Signal to exercise their right to private communication. To cope with the advent of quantum computing, Signal employs a new initial handshake protocol called PQXDH for post-quantum confidentiality, yet keeps guarantees of authenticity and deniability classical. Compared to its predecessor X3DH, PQXDH includes a KEM encapsulation and a signature on the ephemeral key. In this work we show that PQXDH does not meet the same deniability guarantees as X3DH due to the signature on the ephemeral key. Our analysis relies on plaintext awareness of the KEM, which Signal's implementation of PQXDH does not provide. As for X3DH, both parties (initiator and responder) obtain different deniability guarantees due to the asymmetry of the protocol. For our analysis of PQXDH, we introduce a new model for deniability of key exchange that allows a more fine-grained analysis. Our deniability model picks up on the ideas of prior work and facilitates new combinations of deniability notions, such as deniability against malicious adversaries in the big brother model, i.e. where the distinguisher knows all secret keys. Our model may be of independent interest.

Big Brother Is Watching You: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Automated Fuel Cell Monitoring (Technical Report)

In this technical report, we present our second-generation digital twin model for monitoring of fuel cells. This digital twin combines two data-driven machine learning models: a stationary model for stationary cell voltage prediction and a degradation model for degradation correction. This combination of both models results in a precise probabilistic prediction of the cell voltage over time.Furthermore, we present a web-based framework for automated fuel cell monitoring in real time. This framework allows training a digital twin on existing data and subsequently applying the twin to automatically check new data for anomalies.

Big Brother Is Watching You: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Automated Fuel Cell Monitoring (Technical Report)

In this technical report, we present our second-generation digital twin model for monitoring of fuel cells. This digital twin combines two data-driven machine learning models: a stationary model for stationary cell voltage prediction and a degradation model for degradation correction. This combination of both models results in a precise probabilistic prediction of the cell voltage over time.Furthermore, we present a web-based framework for automated fuel cell monitoring in real time. This framework allows training a digital twin on existing data and subsequently applying the twin to automatically check new data for anomalies.

“If two people say you are drunk, you better go to bed”: Interview with Gyula Gyulyás

This article explores bio documentary cinema, an often overlooked biographic genre that, unlike its “big brother,” the biopic focusing on the lives, achievements, and legacy of people from the past, prefers to investigate living people through interviews and other forms of interaction. In order to understand the challenges, methods and human dynamic shaping talking heads documentaries, the article prioritizes the first-hand experience of the filmmaker, more specifically, that of Gyula Gulyás, a Hungarian director of documentaries for over five decades. After a general introduction to his career path, preferred topics and shared interests with local and regional documentary filmmakers, the interview covers areas relevant to the biographic documentary such as generic labels, professional standards and the usefulness of cinematic portraits for academic research, choice of subject, methods of interviewing and structuring recorded material, moral responsibility and intimacy as a well as general and specific questions about financing and distributing biographic documentaries, their reception, and the struggle with political and non-political censorship.

Big Brother’s Help: The Dynamics of the Indonesian Narrative of China’s Role in Indonesian Development

Big Brother’s Help: The Dynamics of the Indonesian Narrative of China’s Role in Indonesian Development

Big Brother Nigeria, Contemporary Youth Culture, and the Question of Nigeria’s Sustainable Future

Abstract Big Brother Naija, Nigeria’s localization of the international Big Brother Franchise, is the most subscribed reality show among the Nigerian youth. This is due to its explicit eroticism and lucrative rewards. The show is controversial as the libertine population believes in it while spiritual devotees and culture moralists see the show as social corruption. This study therefore explores the social implications of open eroticism and profligacy on the impressionable youth as this concerns Nigeria’s future sustainability. The research is guided by qualitative research principles and Diana Leat’s conception of Social Change Theory emphasizing culture as pivotal in progressive societal changes. The researcher relied on native intuition for research assertions and digital platforms for accessing videos and commentaries on the reality show. The paper opines that Nigerian youth’s repudiation of due process is injurious to the country’s future. Urgent government’s interventions are inevitable in redirecting the orientation of the Nigerian youth.

Audience Perception on the Impact of Television Reality Shows on the Moral Lives of Adolescents in Taraba State

This study titled “Audience perception on the impact of television reality show on the moral lives of adolescents in Taraba State, Nigeria,” aims to examine audience’s perceived view about the moral impact of the show(s) on adolescents in Taraba State especially on those in their developmental stage. The study was anchored on the Perception theory to provide support for ongoing discussion. The study was contingent on a dual research method, utilizing survey (quantitative) and In-depth interview (qualitative) research designs. The study’s population comprises of respondents resident in Taraba State who are audiences of television reality show(s). A sample size of 384 respondents was determined using the Taro Yamane’s determinism sampling technique. Multi stage sampling method was employed to select three Local Governments in the strata from the three senatorial district of the State, while simple random sampling was used to select the wards as well as the proportional sampling method was utilized to get numbers of respondents who are audience of television reality show in the three stratums. Findings from the study shows that adolescents in Taraba State have access to television reality show and can form a reasonable opinion about the show. Findings also indicate that, the Big Brother Naija, the Nigerian Idol, and the Voice Nigeria among others are the various television reality shows that adolescents in Taraba State have access to. The study concludes that since television reality shows has the potency to influence and sway ideas, programme packaging and design of the show should be tilted towards building learning and promoting excellence instead of obscenity, nudity and materialism. It is therefore recommended, among others, that content creators, stakeholders and government parastaltas in liaison with the ministry of Arts and Entertainment should work together, prioritize television reality shows, develop and broadcast a TV show that reflects the true nature of the Nigerian society and that are value oriented.

The renaissance of germanium

The great moment of fame for germanium was in December 1947. In that year the first transistor was made by a research team of Bell Laboratories. Owing to some problems with germanium, it was soon supplanted by silicon. Currently, germanium is still used in the microelectronic industry for opto-electronic and solar electric applications, but its role is very minor compared to its big brother silicon. After the rise of graphene, germanium received renewed interest because of the predicted stability of the graphene-like allotrope of germanium. Germanene, the germanium analogue of graphene, shares many properties with graphene, but there are also a few interesting differences that makes this material very appealing for device applications. In this contribution, I will give a brief historical overview of germanene, discuss the pros and cons of germanene and elaborate on its potential for future device applications.

New media audience and sexuality issues in big brother naija.

The new media effectively plays the role of speedily conveying media content to various online communities, and this internet technology also allows for the storage and retrieval of content. The organizers of Big Brother Naija (BBN) appear to have leveraged this facility to interact with the audience of the reality show in the most profound manner in the Nigerian media ecosystem. Adopting John Locke's Empiricist Reflection Theory (ERT), the article uses quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine if coders (the new media audience) perceived the promotion of nudity, illicit sex, inordinate kisses, and vulgarity in the 2018 edition of the Big Brother Naija (BBN), codenamed "Double Wahala." A checklist of 72 internal consistency reliability was used to obtain the quantitative data while the data were analyzed using simple percentages and a pie chart. This was complemented by qualitative research modalities of historical-analytic and document observation methods. The study found that the participants and organizers have, for economic reasons, thrown caution on morality and values to the wind with the outcome of actual sexual intercourse among the participants amounting to 52% among other studied variables. The conclusion reached is that the organizers of the program should redesign it to promote wholesome entertainment, education, and enlightenment of the audience, especially the youth in Nigeria.

Open boundary conditions for atmospheric large-eddy simulations and their implementation in DALES4.4

Abstract. Open boundary conditions were developed for atmospheric large-eddy simulation (LES) models and implemented into the Dutch Atmospheric Large-Eddy Simulation model. The implementation was tested in a “Big Brother”-like setup, in which the simulation with open boundary conditions was forced by an identical control simulation with periodic boundary conditions. The results show that the open boundary implementation has minimal influence on the solution. Both the mean state and the turbulent structures are close to the control simulation, and disturbances at the in- and outflow boundaries are negligible. To emulate a setup in which the LES is coupled to a coarser model, the influence of coarse boundary input was tested by smoothing the output of the periodic control simulation both temporally and spatially before feeding it as input to the simulation with open boundary conditions. When smoothing is applied over larger spatial and longer temporal scales, disturbances start to form at the inflow boundary and an area exists where turbulence needs to develop. Adding synthetic turbulence to the smoothed input reduces the size of this area and the magnitude of the disturbances.

Blockchain and Smart Contracts for Digital Copyright Protection

In a global context characterized by a pressing need to find a solution to the problem of digital copyright protection, buyer-seller watermarking protocols based on asymmetric fingerprinting and adopting a “buyer-friendly” approach have proven effective in addressing such a problem. They can ensure high levels of usability and security. However, they usually resort to trusted third parties (TTPs) to guarantee the protection process, and this is often perceived as a relevant drawback since TTPs may cause conspiracy or collusion problems, besides the fact that they are generally considered as some sort of “big brother”. This paper presents a buyer-seller watermarking protocol that can achieve the right compromise between usability and security without employing a TTP. The protocol is built around previous experiences conducted in the field of protocols based on the buyer-friendly approach. Its peculiarity consists of exploiting smart contracts executed within a blockchain to implement preset and immutable rules that run automatically under specific conditions without control from some kind of central authority. The result is a simple, usable, and secure watermarking protocol able to do without TTPs.

Anti-heroism in Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the most pervasively influential books of the twentieth century. Many previous researchers have explored its profound themes and cultural implications. Starting from a different perspective, this thesis approaches the story in the light of anti-heroism. By analyzing the image of Big Brother and the protagonist, the anti-heroic spirit shown in the transformations of the protagonist presents the glory of humanity under the pressure of totalitarianism. The suffering of the protagonist especially when he is under arrest shows readers how humanity will be tortured by totalitarianism in a world which is dominated by traditional heroism. Orwell expresses his comprehending of the freedom and concern for the future of mankind and gives his answer about hero and freedom after a close reading. A true hero is not the one who maintains the leadership of the party, but a man with independent thought, identifying the beauty and ugliness. And the right of freedom is the freedom of ideology on the basis of history.

Scrutinizing the Myth of Kumunity: The Semiotics of the Philippines’ Pinoy Big Brother Season 10

In applying Roland Barthes' semiotic theory to the analysis of Pinoy Big Brother Season 10 (Dyogi, Katigbak, Vidanes &amp; Andrada, 2021-2022), this study delves into the intricate layers of meaning embedded in the show's 'Kumunity' concept, a term created by the fusion of 'Kumu,' a social media entertainment app, and "community." The primary focus is on unraveling the myth that the 'kumunity' symbolizes within the broader context of the reality television landscape in the Philippines. The investigation meticulously scrutinized selected components of the show—images, music, and dialogues—to elucidate the orders of signification, exposing the nuanced and multifaceted meanings conveyed. The 'kumunity' is portrayed as mirroring a tangible community with shared goals among housemates, showcasing a cohesive objective reminiscent of a localized collective. However, beneath this surface portrayal, this study uncover a rich tapestry of implicit meanings. These include subtle assertions of authority and power dynamics, the reinforcement of cultural nuances, the elevation and glorification of resilience as a virtue, and instances of disunity within the overarching support system. The study, through extensive analysis, goes beyond the apparent and reveals the intricate web of hidden ideologies within the signs presented in Pinoy Big Brother Season 10. It sheds light on the subtle yet impactful societal messages that permeate the realm of reality television, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the show's influence on cultural perceptions and dynamics. Keywords: Kumu, kumunity, Pinoy Big Brother, Roland Barthes, semiotics.