10 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
How Computational Review of Chess Games Revealed Narrativ...
Paradoxically, when other top players wrote about games in magazines and newspaper columns they often made more mistakes in their commentary than the players had made at the board. Even when the players themselves published analyses of their own games they were often less accurate than when they were playing the game. Strong moves were called errors, weak moves were praised. It was not only a few cases of journalists who were lousy players failing to comprehend the genius of the champions, or...16 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
Argument Against Teacherbots
Computers can do a lot in education. Of course, books and magazines can do a lot in education. Of course, a lot of what computers do well is simply replacing books and magazines. A children's library needs a librarian. It's not a dumpster full of books. Librarians (like teachers) know what children will like and understand at different ages. They can recommend books, and buy books that are popular, so you can look at the spines of books on a bookshelf, pull out a book, and find something inte...Folksonomies: education automation
Folksonomies: education automation
12 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Journal Papers Don't Trigger Revolutions
It appears that the extremely important papers that trigger a revolution may not receive a proportionately large number of citations. The normal procedures of referencing are not used for folklore. A real scientific revolution, like any other revolution, is news. The Origin of Species sold out as fast as it could be printed and was denounced from the pulpit almost immediately. Sea-floor spreading has been explained, perhaps not well, in leading newspapers, magazines, books, and most recently ...Folksonomies: science popularization
Folksonomies: science popularization
Science that makes the news does.
12 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Two Factions of the Model Railroad Club
There were two factions of TMRC. Some members loved the idea of spending their time building and painting replicas of certain trains with historical and emotional value, or creating realistic scenery for the layout. This was the knife-and-paintbrush contingent, and it subscribed to railroad magazines and booked the club for trips on aging train lines. The other faction centered on the Signals and Power Subcommittee of the club, and it cared far more about what went on under the layout. This w...The club is were many hackers came from in the early days of computing. Half its members were into history and total control over a miniature world, the half that would become hackers were interested in the technology beneath the plywood.
12 JAN 2011 by ideonexus
Twitter, Celebrity, Asymmetric and Symmetric Social Conne...
Asymmetric attention is the key to another important concept, celebrity. Being famous means that a lot of people pay attention to you--after all, by definition it is famous people who appear on the cover of magazines, which are purchased because lots of people want to know what's happening with their favorite celebrities. But the celebrity doesn't, for the the most part, pay any attention to the fans (at least, not individually). Asymmetric attention ties in Twitter allows people like Oprah W...Folksonomies: web science social networking
Folksonomies: web science social networking
Twitter provides for asymmetric connections, where individuals follow others, making the people who don't follow back are celebrities; however, the system has been hacked with @replies, which make asymmetric connections symmetrical.
03 JAN 2011 by ideonexus
How People are Paid for Their Attention
The result of the new economics is that people are often paid for their attention, implicitly or explicitly. They get to see television free in return for watching commercials. Their magazines and newspapers are subsidized or supplied free by advertisers. Nowadays bus shelters, baseball stadiums, and even those little refresher towelettes on airlines such as Lufthansa are supported by advertisers eager for your attention. You are also rewarded with content according to the "quality" of attent...Consumers are rewarded by advertisers and companies for the attention and quality of attention they pay to products.