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Recommender systems: where are we headed?Today

Daniel Tunkelang comments on the recent progress in collaborative filtering:

(…) the machine learning community, much like the information retrieval community, generally prefers black box approaches, (…) If the goal is to optimize one-shot recommendations, they are probably right. But I maintain that the process of picking a movie, like most information seeking tasks, is inherently interactive, (…)

I disagree with him. Even for non-interactive recommendations, the Machine Learning community is off-track for two reasons:

• They fail to take into account diversity. In Information Retrieval, we know that if precision is high (all documents are relevant) but recall is low (few of the relevant documents are presented), then the system is poor. There is no such balance in collaborative filtering. Precision above all else is the goal. This is wrong. Diversity metrics must be used.
• They work over static data sets. A system like Netflix is not static and so, accuracy on a static data set might be a good predictor for real-world performance. The problem is intrinsically nonlinear. People will rate different items, and they will rate differently, if you change the recommender system. The feedback loop may work against

For Startups, Survival is not a StrategyYesterday

Note: As I was working on this post, I ran into Om Malik and showed him a draft. He liked it and asked to post it simultaneously on GigaOM. If you've read it on GigaOM, you can skip reading it here.

In these perilous economic times, the layoff memos often follow a familiar refrain: We have cut costs by 20%. That gives us an additional year's runway. Or two. Yes, startups can cut costs and thereby survive for longer. But just because they can, does not mean they should.

Let me state at the very outset that this article applies only to venture-backed startups, which are a small minority of businesses in the economy. The sole purpose of most businesses is to create a steady income stream for their owners and operators. Venture-backed startups, on the other hand, are created with the sole purpose of leading to a meaningful exit for founders, investors, and employees. Such an exit might be either an IPO or an acquisition.

The raison d' etre for such startups is therefore a successful exit, not mere survival. And the lifeblood of any startup is growth. Growth along some dimension: customers, usage, revenues, or profits. Under most economic conditions, an IPO is impossible without revenue and profit growth  -- and we are unlikely to see a return soon of the times when it was. From an acquisition point of view, stagn

NASA Develops Out of This World Network…LiterallyYesterday

Could the international space station soon become the go-to place for Hulu video viewing parties? Buy a barf bag and spacesuit just in case because NASA scientists have developed software that could soon create an Internet-esque network in area of the universe seen only by astronauts, little green men and muppets. The technology remains in its infant stages, but has the potential to make communication in space as easy as sending an email or poking someone on Facebook. The space agency has spent the last 10 years working on the project with the so-called “father of the internet,” Vint Cerf.

Is Web Working Better For Your Health?Yesterday

When our grandparents said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, they were referring to the fruit, not the computer.  But it’s not far-fetched that the same thing could be said about teleworking.  By opting to telework, employees and freelancers have a better chance of keeping themselves physically healthy.

How does this happen and to what extent is it valid?

Less stress - in an ideal situation, at least. Too much stress is something that should be avoided, whether you’re a teleworker or not.  It reduces the efficency of your immune system and also makes you prone to allergies.

Without the stress that comes with commuting and rushing to the office, there’s a general consensus among surveys that for most people, web working is less stressful.  Still, it’s important to remember that some teleworkers (in

Q-Dir Explores Files with Multiple Panes and Custom Views [Featured Windows Download]Yesterday

Windows only: Free file browser Q-Dir makes for a good USB drive app or installed replacement for Windows Explorer for those who do a serious amount of file swapping, or just like to be able to keep multiple folder views open at once. The app—which installs by default, but can run by itself after renaming it "Q-Dir.exe"—offers a customizable number of panes, though the default four-square is a pretty good starting point. You can save any view you like to a favorite button, along with adding shortcuts to frequently-accessed folders. There's also a quick-filter box in the lower-right for easy sorting and finding, and if you use Q-Dir regularly, you'll be glad it keeps your right-click shell extensions and offers its own "*Q-Dir" launch option on right-clicking a folder. Q-Dir is a free download for Windows systems only. Only need two panes? We're also big fans of replacing Explorer with Xplorer2.

Q-Dir [via FreewareGenius.com]