Dave Harris

A fun blog post about the Bayesian product ranking work that I did while I was at @DataWayfair/@WayfairTech.

@tkasarla_ Very cool! Given that training doesn’t seem to help, how much do you think the content of the matrix matters? Would an orthogonal matrix also work if it had the same reduced dimensions?

In our paper, we outline a closed form solution for separating k+1 class vectors on k output dimensions (with optimal separation angle of -1/k). Our solution allows us to construct the matrix recursively. Code: github.com/tkasarla/max-s…

Looking to boost classification, long-tailed recognition, OOD/open-set recognition with single line of code? Read our new work, Maximum Class Separation as Inductive Bias in One Matrix: arxiv.org/abs/2206.08704 w/ @gjburghouts,@MvanSpengler,@ElisevanderPol,@ricucch,@PascalMettes

@martingoodson @gstsdn They also have larger regions of the brain dedicated to olfactory processing. Not sure if that counts as hardware or software.

@gstsdn Hardware. Dogs have 50 times more olfactory receptors in the nose than humans.

@ZachWeiner “With cryptographic safeguards to ensure that the history of previous decisions cannot be hidden or rewritten”

Being as charitable as possible, what would "based on blockchain" mean in this instance?

From a space settlement book: “Organizational structure is hierarchical but stays very meritocratic in order to ensure less bureaucracy and higher efficiency. All government processes and state services are highly automated based on blockchain technology and highly transparent.”

@fredbenenson You asked for over 2000 photos and it only returned three?

Apple Photos search is usually golden but every so often it gloriously fucks up. I think this is my favorite so far.

@Randy_Au Industrial?

@andyweirauthor I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary! Science question about astrophage: where do the nitrogen and phosphorus in its protein and DNA come from? Is this a plot home?

@Chronotope I don’t think that this argument counters their point in the thread about spam filters. That’s one of the least-bad anti-privacy arguments I’ve seen in a while.

Take a step back. These privacy invasive metrics are not the baseline for marketing success in any marketplace other then digital display, apps and email. Marketing has been successful, small businesses have been successful, in every other venue and period of history.

This this is the wrong frame, one that has long been maintained by ad tech companies who claim to speak for creators & publishers, but only speak for themselves. Pro-Privacy changes only hurt *because* the marketplaces have been redefined using privacy violating metrics.

@patio11 Curious whether you disagree with this early review, which was scathing arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/10…

And that, Internets, is how a 30+ year veteran of Dungeons and Dragons got a TPK in the second fight of the game, for thinking "Meh I don't need to spend the action Dashing I am obviously far away enough from $TERRIFYING_MONSTER."

Baldur’s Gate 3 opens with the best use of cinematics I have ever seen in a video game. It starts in media res, immediately establishes the danger and the stakes, and is absolutely thrilling, both to my inner child and to one surprisingly adult fear for a D&D game.

TIL: there is a bizarro pipe (->.;) in #rstats win-vector.com/2016/12/13/mag…

@mrogati @chrisalbon Outlook too

@chrisalbon Gmail does this, under Settings->General->Nudges, but unfortunately it's 'smart' about which ones it suggests.

worth keeping in mind.

@draparente @maddiejayy I misread this as “to be a pet” initially

@maddiejayy Honestly you should be required to have training/be licensed to have a pet

Not enough people understand this.

@politicalmath Also, one side led an insurrection and sacked the capitol.

"Oh, but there's a difference" Yes there is a difference. The difference is that you hate one side when they say this and you are pretty cool with the other side saying it. That's the main difference.

I've been thinking about some recent polls about "what Republicans believe" and have come to the conclusion that is anyone actually believed those polls, they would be demanding a national divorce to remove these crazy people from having a vote to influence national policy

@SilvestriCodes @sarahmei I was going to say the same thing. If I remember correctly, the two twins will fit perfectly on a king box spring and inside king sheets.

How do people share a bed when they need vastly different mattresses? 😬 I like my Caspar (foam) mattress, but my partner’s back prefers a much firmer inner spring situation...which hurts my joints to sleep on.

@fluxians @kevinakwok @blakeir The term ”metagaming” dates back to at least the 70’s. I think that’s the etymology.

If we are playing a 'game,' it's interesting to think about what the META (most effective tactic available) is on each social platform. it's worth noting that the meta changes depending on your goals. e.g. "Time for a thread 🧵" does very well, if your goal is to go viral

@wdonald_1985 If I recall correctly, Bishop’s machine learning book has a few connections. It comes up when introducing variational logistic regression but is introduced earlier. Book is free as pdf if you don’t already have a copy.

Thus far, I have a blog from Andrew Gelman, and then one reference provided there. But looking for something more formal.

Question. What is the relation between estimates from a probit versus logit. In particular, I read that we can approximate probit estimates by dividing the logit estimates by 1.6. where does this come from ?

@Yozarian22 @kareem_carr All of the edge cases depend on how the idea is constructed, I think. Are you “doing nothing” if you’re breathing and your heart is beating? If a box contains air, does it still “contain nothing”? Are “doing nothing” and “containing nothing” even the same concept?

@kareem_carr I view "nothing" as a concept that would be developed by any culture (even non-human ones) once they reached a certain level, as it's too simple and useful to do without. In that sense, it is "universal", though still constructed in a different sense.

Is "nothing" real or is it a social construct?

@acapellascience One

wait wait WAIT A SECOND just HOW MANY REVOLUTIONS does the earth make in a year??

@AndrewLBeam @kdpsinghlab It’s a linear congruential generator with a multiplier of one and a small increment. Seed can change based on who you point to for “eenie“

@kdpsinghlab Technically it’s not any different than a real RNG other than always using the same seed!

My daughter is trying to convince me that eeny meeny miney mo is a random number generator.

@OrangeJuche @davidshor @mattyglesias That was my first thought, too.

@davidshor @mattyglesias If Blas ever did enough work to have a major scandal, watch who suddenly fails to qualify for city advertising the minute someone tries to report on it.

Interesting story about New York City subsidizing local press by requiring 50% of city agency advertising to go to local news. 50% of the federal government’s 5 billion a year in advertising would be enough to cover the payroll of nearly every journalist in America!