Beware the algorithms
January 14th, 2009 at 10:34 am. 0 comments.Most things don’t have to be perfect. In particular, things involving human interactions don’t have to be perfect, because groups of humans have all these self-regulations built in. If you and I have an agreement and you screwed me over badly, you’ve always got in the back of your mind the nagging worry that I’m going to show up on your doorstep with a club and kill you. Because of that, people don’t tend to screw each other too much, right? At least, they try not to. One danger, perhaps, of moving towards an algorithmically driven society is that the algorithms aren’t scared of us showing up and beating them up. The algorithms will do whatever it is that they are designed to do. But mostly I’m not too worried about that.
philosecurity » Blog Archive » Interview with an Adware Author
Frozen Food in a Wall of Ice
January 12th, 2009 at 6:24 pm. 0 comments.
Frozen Food in a Wall of Ice [food art] – Eat me daily
enjoysthin.gs signup is wonderful
January 8th, 2009 at 5:26 pm. 0 comments.
Signing up for a web service like enjoysthin.gs is a pleasure when it is done like this. Like the huffduffer signup, your username is integrated into copy that has a conversational tone rather than stalinistic form to be filled out. Nice touchs include outlining your user name in green to indicate it’s available and the 1-click and you got a full-on user account, just your username is needed. Everything you add on the next page like your name, your email and password if you like are strictly optional, letting you see what you are going to get as quickly and hassle free as possible. Well done.
2008 edits at OpenStreetMap.org
January 7th, 2009 at 5:42 pm. 0 comments.
OSM 2008: A Year of Edits from ItoWorld on Vimeo.
Very nice animation showing the activity on the maps at OpenStreetMap.org
If you look closely you can see the edits I made in Jersey City last year.
3-2-1 Contact
January 7th, 2009 at 11:40 am. 0 comments.There are lots more in the related videos too.
Travel time to major cities: A global map of Accessibility – European Commission
January 6th, 2009 at 1:45 pm. 0 comments.
It is amazing that we can get to nearly anywhere on earth in a matter of hours or a few days. Remoteness is is slipping away.
via: Travel time to major cities: A global map of Accessibility
2008 Cities
January 4th, 2009 at 11:05 pm. 0 comments.New York City, NY
Jersey City, NJ (Home)
Ishgl, Austria
Zurich, Switzerland
Montreal, Canada
Lopatcong, NJ
Gafahna de Encarnacao, Portugal
Maison Frio, Portugal
Northville, NY
Los Angeles, CA
Buffalo, NY
Harrahs Casino is tuning your experience
January 4th, 2009 at 7:24 pm. 0 comments.
In a recent Radio Lab podcast on the subject of Choice , there was a segment on Harrahs Casino’s method of tracking and customizing the experience of it’s customers. Using a frequent players card, which players put into the slot machine while playing, they can track all the attributes of the players betting patterns and especially what your pain point is. With your losses at the slots mounting the casino knows when you are likely to get up and walk out of the casino. It is at this time that a casino employee drops by and gives you some comps (free show tickets etc) which makes you feel like you are winning and you are more likely to stay put, pulling the lever.
How much will you go down before you call it quits?
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