Google is finally about to roll out a CBIR system using something similar to the “Vantage Objects” concept. It’s about time – I’ve wondered why no major search engines adopted this sort of thing for a long time.
I have nothing against people with Asperger’s syndrome or other autism-spectrum disorders – in fact, they tend to have some great ideas and are among the smartest people I’ve ever met (true savants are outright intimidating, even to me). However, the communication difficulties aren’t overhyped; they really are very difficult to talk to, even when I make a conscious effort to communicate in spite of the difficulty. It seems that they either focus incredibly intently on a single topic to the extent that everything else, including the person they are speaking to, is shut out, or they exhibit the complete opposite behavior, jumping from topic to topic so quickly that it’s difficult to retain coherence amidst the clutter (but is this actually Autism?). It seems to have an impact not only on their real-time verbal skills (i.e., those used in a conversation), but also on their writing skills in general.
I don’t think I quite understood the nature of the disorder until I began communicating with some individuals who possessed it.
And it would make an awesome poster 🙂
The vast area in the center of the circle would be solid, representing “common knowledge”. The area outside would be filled with variable-length linear spokes projecting outwards from the surface of the circle, representing current work in various scientific fields. A breadth-first approach to knowledge would then be represented by traversing the circle, while a depth-first approach would be represented by moving in the direction orthogonal to the circle’s tangent line.
I call it the Grocer’s Hypothesis, because it’s probably something supermarkets have intuitively known. Customers who are hungry when they go shopping probably tend to buy more food than their satiated counterparts. This can be generalized; short-term conditions influence long-term decisions.
(Update: This has now been validated by a study at the University of Pennsylvania. Perhaps it should now be called the Grocer’s Theory :)).
If we treat society as a neural net, the current status quo represents convergence on a local minimum. That’s why things work, but not necessarily well.
This isn’t all that great a poem, but the idea it expresses is something I’ve been struggling with for a while.
Around what does society swing?
What is the pivot, the crux?
What great idea, what a thing,
sparks and ignites such a flux?
Arbitrary though it may seem,
underneath it does have a cause,
a root buried deep in some meme,
a weight against all of the flaws.
Chaotic it is, and profound,
enigmatic puzzles abound,
it won’t ever seek to perfect,
so all it can do is direct.
Damage to tissue (of any sort) tends to provide a good environment for bacteria to grow. I am wondering whether this applies to burns of the tongue, but can’t seem to find any information on it. It could be useful to know as a preventative measure for things like strep throat.
Ding! Time’s up! Industry’s turn has ended and it is now academia’s move.
Gravitational clustering in machine learning, a previous idea of mine, has been done before, but it seems that you can also cluster points based on the Lorentz transform spacetime undergoes in general relativity. I’m wondering whether a data clustering algorithm based on the stress-energy tensor (simulated at relativistic speeds, of course) would be feasible. My dissertation is on using tensors in data mining, so it could be a useful example.
The sun’s swift descent,
another ended cycle,
the sky turns to flame.
(Purging urban soot,
from my heart, from my spirit,
demanding nothing).