I’m collecting these for a talk I’m giving on Big Data’s obsession with correlation rather than causation.
Daily Archives: May 13, 2014
Fledged!
Outside our kitchen window is what we had always assumed was an abandoned nest-box. Recently, though, we noticed several things: (i) our two cats were taking an inordinate interest in it, (ii) adult birds were flying missions to and from the box and (iii) an extraordinarily courageous wagtail was distracting the cats by hopping about on the lawn and generally tormenting them by flying overhead.
Naturally we fretted about the fate of the birds, and for two days kept the cats indoors, much to their chagrin. Then this morning my wife saw this little chap on the roof of our study. He had just flown for the first time and had alighted to savour his new freedom (and perhaps also to recover from the shock). He looked at her impassively as she took his portrait.
How to ruin an economy: a few simple ideas
Wonderful lecture by Noam Chomsky. The economy in question is that of the United States. A masterclass in the use of irony.
Ten of the best
Every year MIT’s Technology Review has a feature on what its editors regard as the most interesting tech developments to have emerged during the previous year. Their current list is now out. See the article for the full details, but the headlines are:
- Agricultural Drones (giving farmers new ways of increasing yields and reducing crop damage)
- Ultra-private smartphones (e.g. the Blackphone)
- Brain mapping
- Neuromorphic chips (i.e. microprocessors configured more like human brains than conventional chips)
- Genome editing (the ability to create primates with intentional mutations to study complex and genetically baffling brain disorders). Hmmm… some ethical issues here
- Microscale 3D printing (i.e. using inks made from different kinds of materials)
- Mobile collaboration (so-called ‘productivity’ software for smartphones. Example: Quip)
- Oculus Rift (the wearable VR tech that Facebook recently acquired)
- Agile robots
- Smart wind and solar power (i.e. using big data and AI to produce more accurate forecasts of winds)
The Laws of Social Networking
There is a 100/10/1 “rule of thumb” with social services. 1% will create content, 10% will engage with it, and 100% will consume it. If only 10% of your users need to log in because 90% just want to consume, then you’ll end up with the vast majority of your users in the logged out camp. Don’t ignore them, build services for them, and you can slowly but surely lead them to more engagement and potentially some day into the logged in camp.