Most Code Downloads Restored; Some Articles Deleted
I’ve restored about two-thirds of the code downloads on the site, especially for the most popular articles on this site. I’ve also had to delete some articles that were either based on images I can no longer locate or were, to be blunt, badly written.
Bear with me; I should have the last of the code downloads reinstated over the next few days.
Also, be aware that certain trackback / inline links on this site may now be dead, as a result of the aforementioned post prunings.
Describing ‘Red’ To A Blind Man: The Dilemma Of Ontology
Recently asked on Yahoo! Answers:
How to map a keyword to a category?
I have a bunch of general categories, such as: Games, Modeling, Business, Finance, etc.My question is, how can I take a keyword such as “Xbox 360″ and automatically map it to a category such as “Games”? This is an easy example, and I did figure out ways to do this, but if I take a harder example such as “Tyra Banks”, I am unable to map it to a category of mine such as “Modeling” or “Tv Shows”.
I have been thinking of this for a very long time, and I can’t come up with a concrete solution. I have also searched the web and found nothing that would provide this service.
Any ideas?
Basically, computers develop semantic understanding the same way we people do, only far less efficiently: Repetition of example. (In computer science, semantics are called ontology.)
The reason we are far more efficient is that we more easily create connections between things, and more quickly process those connections, than computers can manage.
For example, suppose I give you three categories: colloid, coagulant, polymer. Now, place “chocolate milk” into the proper category.
Continue reading: Describing ‘Red’ To A Blind Man: The Dilemma Of Ontology »
An Open Letter To A Programming Noob
Recently received in my e-mail:
Hi There
Found your email on your blog via the contact me which is linked to on your [Yahoo! Answers] profile.
I was curious as to what languages you program in as I am keen to get into programming and wanted any advise or recomendations for books.
I have done quite a bit of visual basic 6 which I know is not OOP.
Would be good to either do vb 2005 or c++ or java
Thanks
Shane
My response to this e-mail follows.
A New Approach To Yahoo! Answers
Those of you who know me from Yahoo! Answers may be wondering why you don’t see quite as much of my answers around. As recently as last week, I was answering as many as 60 questions a day.
Part of that is now that the holidays have passed, I’m busier with paying projects. But a bigger reason is that I’ve rethought which questions I am going to answer. It occurred to me recently that there’s a huge difference between quantity and quality, and in addition, I’m taking a bit more offense than I should with poorly worded questions, stupid questions and people who reward wrong answers with “Best Answer.”
I know full well when I answer a question whether the questioner even understands what he is asking, nonetheless the answer I give. And I know, even better, the cliche that one should never teach pigs to sing, because it wastes your time and annoys the pig.
I also know better than to answer when it’s not needed or counterproductive, and it occurs to me that not following my own common sense makes me a fool.
Stupid Web Site Tricks
Recently asked on Yahoo! Answers:
Is background music on websites to unprofessional?
[snip; was a URL]
that is my website I am working on for my uncle
I was thinking about putting some background music on it
(just a piano playin in background)is this a good idea or should I not do it?
and what changes can I make to the site to make it look better? what can I add, what should I take off?
Which provides me with an excellent segue to point out all the annoying crap people on Yahoo! Answers insist on putting into their Web sites. I’ve listed the annoyances in order, from worst to simply just offensive.
If you do any of the following on your Web site, your site is awful. If you do more than one, you should immediately remove your site altogether, because it’s a crime.
