Apr 16
lindsayrgwattTechnology algorithms, ask.com, justin bieber
Alright, I admit it, I don’t know if Justin Bieber has swine flu, but you could be forgiven thinking that if you typed “What are the symptoms of swine flu?” into Ask.com:
You’re seeing two things:
- An over-reliance on algorithms. They’re showing other questions asked by people who also asked “What are the symptoms of swine flu?” The most popular co-occurring questions are shown – and Ask’s computers naively show them as they know nothing about what the questions mean
- A glimpse into what people are looking for/how they use their computers. Usually these algorithms are based on what similar questions people asked in the same session – this means that these people were asking about both swine flu and young Bieber within a short time period of one another or never close their web browsers (so the session never ends)
Mar 11
lindsayrgwattTechnology algorithms, fail, youtube
Yesterday I was listening to a podcast that referenced Cajmere’s Coffee Pot - commonly referred to as “Percolator” or “It’s time for the percolator”. I was wondering how the original song went, so I figured I’d listen to in on YouTube.
All good, but check out that “featured video” in the upper right corner. I’m guessing that YouTube noticed that people who looked at this video looked at that video – and therefore I might want to as well. But rest assured, I have little desire to copulate with animals.
Recommendation algorithms are hard, and this one’s not working yet.
Dec 12
lindsayrgwattTechnology algorithms, facebook, fail
Wow, I haven’t even been married six months and Facebook already thinks that I’ve got marriage issues. I’d like to think that my marriage is going really well. In fact, I thought that the day we spent today, traipsing around town, was some of the most fun in ages.
But Facebook apparently thinks otherwise. In fact, when I logged in tonight, it invited me to reconnect with Wendy Franks, my wife:
Apparently, their algorithms have determined that we’re drifting apart and need to ‘reconnect’. I guess Wendy keeping me in her profile photo is just a charade (and a particularly cruel one, given that it’s one of our wedding photos) – but Facebook knows better. In fact, it’s completely unimaginable that the reason that I don’t write on her wall could be the fact that I live with her and spend more time with her than anyone else on earth, right?
Time to tweak the algorithms folks.
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