The Wall Street Journal has a very funny article about users of systems that profile them, such as TiVo, Netflix, and Amazon.com, all of which I use. Basically, the people don’t like or are suprised that TiVo pegs them in certain holes. Someone put Queer as Folk on their Season Pass list and suddenly TiVo was recording other gay-themed shows. Oh no, TiVo thinks I’m gay! So they start recording Jerry Springer to make TiVo think they’re rednecks.
Oh, good grief. TiVo is a machine and has no idea who you are or what you like. It, like Amazon and Netflix, use what you buy and compare it to what other people buy to forumlate recommendations. The more things you rate, the better the recommendations. All three of these services let you rank anything, and I have ranked a few hundred items on Amazon and several dozen on NetFlix, and I’m not afraid to give a TiVo show a thumbs down or thumbs up. Really, people, TiVo is not judging you! If all you have on your Season Pass list is Queer As Folk, it will try to find things similiar, with the same actors, writers, producers, network, or whatever. Give it more choices, and it will give you better recommendations. Don’t take it personally. TiVo is not judging you.
Monthly Archive for November, 2002
So “Ken Burnsification” Is A Word 0 cmts
Usdan ramblings 2 cmts
The architecture of Usdan leads me to believe that it was modified to be in its present form. Specifically, I do not believe that the Boulevard and C-Store were originally as they are. I would guess that what is now the Boulevard originally served some other function, possibly incorporating features of the C-Store, and the area outside of the Boulevard was not in the original building design.
The nice glassed in Boulevard eating area appears to have been added after the fact, along with the C-Store, energy-efficient doors, and the fire sprinkler system. I’m not sure where I could go to see the plans for these buildings (for free), but perhaps the University Archives could help me out here. I might need to become friendly with whomever maintains that collection.
Alwina Bennett wants to turn the former bookstore into a game room. I disagree. I think the very big, nice place would be a great study lounge a la the Technology Library in the new green thing. Combine lots of tables and couches, a bunch of computers, some smaller rooms with white boards, and windows, and you have a nice quiet place to hang out and study. And what’s funny is that that room wasn’t even designed to be a quiet study lounge…more of a gathering and meeting place with study rooms and nooks, but the students quickly took it over and made it what they wanted — a quiet place to study. I think we need a few more nice big clean quiet rooms with plentiful desks, desk lamps, computers, and such. With the atrocity that is the new bookstore, it would be nice if we could at least transform the old bookstore site into something useful, instead of the current empty, debris-filled space that it is.
Speaking of the new green thing, I hear that otherwise bustling offices like Trisk, SSIS, and such are now pretty barren thanks to being hidden somewhere on the second or third floors of our great new building. Meanwhile, the women’s resource center has a pretty prominent location that generally seems empty and devoid of life. Oh, and everyone wants the conference rooms. Another lesson: groups need places to meet! Places with big round (or rectangular) tables, nice chairs, projecting screens, soundproofing…how did we overlook this in all the rest of our designs?
I want to do a profile for the newspaper of the new dorm…hopefully I can find out more about it BEFORE they build it, so we can fix any deficiencies we may find before the thing is, ya know, finished.
Sleepiness elaborated 2 cmts
Here is a quick, long overdue update before I dash off to class. It concerns the continuing saga of my restfulness.
I decided to do another experiment last night – I was tired at 8pm, so I went to bed then, thinking that maybe I’d sleep my standard 9-12 hours and maybe for once wake up rested. Yeah, that didn’t work. I awoke at midnight, not awake enough to get any work done but not tired enough to fall back asleept. Not until about 4 am, and as a consequence I slept until noon (12 hrs.), woke up tired, and missed another Jerry Cohen class. Sigh, sigh, double sigh.
List of diseases I’ve ruled out, thanks to WebMD: chronic fatigue syndrome, mono. They recommend home tests – basically various exercises at various times before bed – that I really need to try. The problem I have is that I often get sleepy while doing exercise, causing me to stop, instead of getting reinvigorated like everyone else says they do…
One thing that does keep me active and awake is anything that requires both physical and mental activity relating to one task — it looks like carpentry is my thing (and hey, it worked for Jesus). If I can build a cabinet or a set or something every day at around 8pm, I should be set…
Anyway, consequences of sleeping through classes that are held at 1:00pm: dirty looks from the professor, missing papers, falling participation grade. Now, how do I convince Socolow to give me an A when I miss 2/3 of his classes? Sigh. Double sigh.
…pondering…
Eep! Class! Gotta run!
An interesting alarmist story 0 cmts
Newsweek put forth an interesting story, even if it does suggest huge problems without any real statistics to back them up. The antecdotes are informative and in general I found it a pretty good read.
Young and Depressed: Ten years ago this disease was for adults only. But as teen depression comes out of the closet, it’s getting easier to spot—and sufferers can hope for a brighter future.
Firefly 2 cmts
The thing about the Firefly 2 hour pilot episode is, it’s really good. I mean, really really good. It establishes characters with a lot of depth, it gets you caring about every member of the crew, it has suspense and action without being excessive…so of course Fox pulled it, decided it wasn’t exciting enough for their network, and instead Firefly began its life with the somewhat disappointing retooled episode The Train Job. It’s a shame, and when they show the pilot as an “origins special” in January or December, I hope people watch it.
Photo Galleries 1 cmts
The photo gallery script has been broken for some time, so I’m transitioning everything over to my new photo site hosted at Brandeis. Also there: some never-before-seen galleries! Check it out!
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