a hands-on, example-driven guide to working with unstructured text in the context of real-world applications. This book explores how to automatically organize text using approaches such as full-text search, proper name recognition, clustering, tagging, information extraction, and summarization. The book guides you through examples illustrating each of these topics, as well as the foundations upon which they are built.
Month: September 2008
Picobrouwerij Alvinne
micro -> pico brewery
Easy Credit
I returned from Singapore in 1999, responsible for £862m worth of losses, personally liable through an injunction for £100m, and yet within 1 week had been offered 5 different credit cards. Ridiculous!
Broke Russia
Vladimir Putin single-handedly wiped out $500b of stock market value, stalled all domestic reforms, and isolated Russia from the outside world.
russia is fucked. my recent visit concurs.
Echo Nest
Takes an MP3 and generates an XML file, which describes the track’s structure and musical content. Analyze outputs rhythm, pitch, timbre, and just about any aspect of an audio file with data synchronous to the underlying music precise to the sub-millisecond level.
Crows use causal reasoning
The use of causal reasoning to solve problems was previously thought to be something only humans can do. But new research suggests that crows are capable of it too.
and the deconstruction of intelligence continues
DIY biohacking
The clash between the potential benefits and dangers of doing home science were highlighted by the case of Victor Deeb. The retired 71-year-old chemist in Marlborough saw his basement lab dismantled by authorities this summer after it was noticed by fire officials putting out a second-floor air conditioner fire. Officials intervened in Deeb’s workspace because it did not meet lab standards. Chemical companies shipping Deeb their materials were unaware that they were shipping to a residence. Deeb insists that the chemicals he was using were less hazardous than common cleaners and household chemicals. He questions why his hobby was seen as more dangerous than, for example, a hunter with a gun collection, or a person using a propane grill.
need to drop by the betahouse to learn more
Financial Meltdown
1) An acceleration in the decline of the state. 2) Widespread economic dislocation 3) Privatization of everything.
Palin Hacked
incompetent politician uses incompetent email provider.
AIG
Modest incompetence is insufficient—if you merely destroy your own company, you won’t get rescued. You have to threaten to bring down the entire global financial system.
Gregor J. Rothfuss 