Posts by hfo1

AI hiring bias? Men with Anglo-Saxon names score lower in tech interviews

Re: You can't add arbitrary data to remove bias.

Yes, hiring is a sea of flawed data and biased processes. If you use these to train systems, and then try to correct afterwards, you are putting the cart before the horse.

Embattled users worn down by privacy options? Let them eat code

Opt-in?

It feels like the easiest option would be a to make this an opt-in process rather than an opt-out one? Then all the incentives would be on the organisations to simplify and standardise their processes. Disinterested users would be protected by default. Maybe allow essential cookies with penalties if somebody tried to stretch the definition of essential.

Japan's first private satellite launch imitates SpaceX's giant explosions

Was Roman Roy involved?

Intuitive Machines' lunar lander tripped and fell

Slightly more embarassing

"During the mission, the Intuitive Machines team said they were concerned that the lander could get lost when they detected a faulty piece of navigation equipment." - no, they realised (by chance) that someone had forgotten to remove the safety lock from the LIDAR system. They did an epic job of patching in signals from another sensor but somebody forgot the checklist.

Software is listening for the options you want it to offer, and it's about time

Who do we trust

The problem with adding an ambiguous layer between you and what you want to do is whether you trust the AI (or rather the organisation implementing the AI) to do what is right for you or right for them? So if I ask to call someone, will it choose the cheapest option or the one that makes them the most money?

For whom the bell polls: Twitter voting is for Blue users only now

It's just a game

I think it was Charlie Brooker who said the best way to understand Twitter is that it is a MMORPG. Elon is just making it pay to win.

Not on your Zoom, not on Teams, not Google Meet, not BlueJeans. WebEx, Skype and Houseparty make us itch. No, not FaceTime, not even Twitch

I think it depends on the situation. Specifically if you know the people already then audio only is fine but when you are talking to people for the first time it helps to see them as well?

Pandas so useless they just look at delicious kid who fell into enclosure

That's how evolution works

Rather missing the point of evolution - which is about fitness to survive. In the present world being cute and cuddly is much more useful than being able to catch and eat stuff.

Data flows in a no-deal Brexit are a 'significant' concern – MPs

A cynic would say

Too many of these articles end with "it's soluble with goodwill on both sides" while we seem to spend every day trashing whatever goodwill that remains.

LinkedIn has a Glint in its eye and cash burning a hole in its pocket

A cynic would say

The obvious way to monetise this is to sell the data of disgruntled employees to other companies so they can poach them - but LinkedIn would never do something like that...

Oh Snap! How intelligent people make themselves stupid for Snapchat

I tried

Mark Suster, who I have a lot of time for, pushed it hard (e.g. https://bothsidesofthetable.com/snapchat-101-for-vcs-and-old-folks-47fbfcb29f78#.at3pg9rcn) so I installed it and tried to get my head around it but, no, it is still a mystery to me.

Windows 10 growth stalls during October

OSX

Interesting how the OSX numbers are so different, not only absolute numbers but also trends. I can see how a different methodology might produce a different overall number but one set rising and the other going down?

RADIOACTIVE WWII aircraft carrier FOUND OFF CALIFORNIA

If they deliberately scuttled it they'd be pretty stupid to forget to take the planes off first.

Redmond researchers profile Skype scammers

Trouble is that if, say, only 1% of accounts are actually fake (it's probably much less) then their results will be swamped by false positives.

Microsoft set to 'do a Nexus' with its Surface tablet

"making hardware can be much less profitable than licensing software"

Just like that barely profitable company called Apple...

Ten... Qwerty mobiles

Re: HTC Pro ?

Yes, I absolutely love the 7 Pro. Best phone I've had.

Windows XP and iPod: A tale of two birthdays

Fair Comparison?

Surely comparing a version of Windows to the iPod in general is not a fair comparison? My 1st-gen iPod touch is certainly not supported by Apple and I'm sure they'd like it to go away.

Facebook is 'killing privacy for commercial gain'

Contradiction

Users value privacy but aren't prepared to pay for it?