As we dedicate an increasing fraction of our time interacting with software – from airport check-in terminals and parking meters, to desktop and mobile applications – digital interface design is becoming as important as physical architecture in improving our experience of the world. Here are Professor Ben Schneiderman’s Eight Golden rules for optimally designing that experience (drawnContinue reading “eight golden rules of interface design”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
the rise of the technical VC
Silicon Valley’s first big bang of innovation occurred in 1957, when eight engineers left Shockley Transistor to form FairChild Semiconductor. Back then, the idea of engineers being entrusted as founders of a business was heretical. Forty-one firms were asked to invest, but “none of them were interested”, according to Arthur Rock. The idea that engineersContinue reading “the rise of the technical VC”
dna dating
A recent start-up, Yoke.me, is attempting to build a better dating engine using Big Data and algorithms. But what mix of data could best be used to algorithmically identify an optimal mate? Photos, favorite albums, and religious beliefs are a start. But how about DNA? A couple of years ago at SciFoo, Toby Segaran, MeredithContinue reading “dna dating”
the data science debate: domain expertise or machine learning?
(L to R: Mike Driscoll, Drew Conway, DJ Patil, Amy Heineike, Pete Skomoroch, Pete Warden, Toby Segaran. Credit: O’Reilly – Link to Video) This past Tuesday evening at Strata I moderated an Oxford-Style debate between six of the top data scientists in Silicon Valley and beyond. The motion debated was: “In data science, domain expertise is moreContinue reading “the data science debate: domain expertise or machine learning?”
start-ups belong in cities
Last Saturday, I woke up and walked down to my favorite coffee shop in San Francisco, SightGlass coffee in SoMa. I met up with a couple of entrepreneurs pitching an amazing idea, and while ordering some mind-buzzingly-good drip coffee, ran into a mentor of mine. I write this because, while these interactions could have happened in the suburbs ofContinue reading “start-ups belong in cities”
the coal mining of the information age
“If I were starting a NoSQL-in-the-enterprise startup, I would focus on ETL. ETL is a mess, and is a precursor for any fancy uses of data.” – @jaykreps “@jaykreps ETL is the coal mining of the information age: dirty, important work that fuels the economy.” – @peteskomoroch One of the largest obstacles facing companies whoContinue reading “the coal mining of the information age”
why everyone should be a medical data donor
What happens to your medical records when you die? Gil Elbaz thinks you ought to donate them to science, a thought he shared with a technology audience this past week. It’s a fascinating idea. But why wait until you’re dead? In the age of the quantified self, why shouldn’t you be able to give yourContinue reading “why everyone should be a medical data donor”
lies, damned lies, and social media statistics
Social media statistics – shares, retweets, and likes – reflect content’s value the way a funhouse mirror reflects one’s looks: grotesquely. As the web lines its halls with social mirrors, these distortions are influencing the content we create and consume. One need look no further than the headlines at Hacker News for a gallery of theContinue reading “lies, damned lies, and social media statistics”
what to feed the mythical machine learning beast?
One of the holy grails of machine learning is the creation of a system that can “read the web” and learn from it, as Isaac Newton read Euclid’s Elements and taught himself geometry. Imagine a mythical beast that could speed-read one-hundred million pages per second, consuming every Wikipedia entry, every scientific article on arxiv.org, everyContinue reading “what to feed the mythical machine learning beast?”
Laslo Bock on meaning in work
We spend more time working than we do on almost any other activity in our lives. People want all that time to mean something. Laslo Bock, “Passion, Not Perks”
