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http://rubykaigi.org/2015/presentations/toch The news is everywhere: some weird disease makes the dead walking. We do not know yet if it is highly contagious. What should we do? What we do everyday: writing code. This couldn't be a better moment to use an agent based model — a technique that simulates interactions between agents in a environment to understand their effects as a whole. For such, we'll visit its minimal Ruby implementation, address some common design, simulate the Zombie epidemic, visualize it, and test different survival strategies to hopefully find the best one. We can code, we'll be prepared ... or not.
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This video presentation by Christophe Philemotte at RubyKaigi 2015 explores the concept of using agent-based modeling to prepare for and simulate responses to a hypothetical Zombie epidemic. Philemotte begins with a humorous introduction, highlighting his background and the importance of community in the Ruby programming world. He transitions into discussing the impact of a fictional but terrifying outbreak, emphasizing that amidst chaos, software developers can leverage their coding skills to model such scenarios. **Key Points Discussed:** - **Agent-Based Modeling:** This technique allows for the simulation of individual interactions within a system (in this case, a Zombie outbreak), providing insights into dynamics that can lead to crucial outcomes based on individual behaviors. - **Dynamic Interactions:** The presentation includes creating agents (humans) and defining their behaviors, highlighting the importance of proximity, movement, and contact with zombies for infection to occur. - **Simulation Demonstration:** A live demonstration illustrates how agents in different states (susceptible, infected, zombie) interact on a grid, showing how infection spreads and how agent states evolve over time. - **Validation and Calibration:** Philemotte discusses the importance of testing the simulation against real-world scenarios, validating outputs to ensure accuracy, and adjusting parameters for reliable predictions. - **Applications Beyond Fiction:** The simulation serves not only as a tool for entertainment and speculation about zombies but also has serious implications for modeling real-world diseases and guiding public health strategies. In conclusion, Christophe emphasizes that the coding skills of developers can aid in preparing for future challenges, including public health crises underscored by the simulation of disease spread. He encourages the audience to engage with the source code available on GitHub and to connect with him on social media for further discussion. The talk ends with an invitation to enjoy some Belgian chocolate, bringing a light-hearted closure to a serious subject.
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