Niall's Notes

In the beginning...  Most of us who have a "smartphone" have experienced the panic then frustration when the battery is close to dying before finally packing in for the day. For me this is usually around 1500/1600. I have finally reached the end of my tether with this. As...

Well the debate is nearing its end here in Scotland over the upcoming referendum on independence. It is not just politco's that are engaged with the debate, almost everybody is talking about it. At the dinner table, in the shops, down the pub. We Scots are fired up, and a lot of us are divided. I have really resisted the temptation to get too involved with the debate, especially on...

Having recently completed my MSc thesis on recommender systems I thought I would share some experiences of the 12 week journey. During this time I researched, designed and developed a recommender system and evaluation framework from the ground up. Overall, the project had over 10,000...

According to the astronaut Chris Hadfield: "[in space] There is no problem so bad that you can't make it worse".  I was watching to his inspiring TED Talk and thinking about this saying. His overarching message in his video is that in a crisis, or where there is (perceived) danger, the best thing to do is:  1. remain calm,  2. assess your options,  3....

The "Hot or Not" concept is quite controversial and is close to bullying. For those not familiar the user is shown pictures of two people and asked to click on which person they find more attractive. Later versions of this then allow users to comment, as you can imagine these comments can generally be pretty mean. So how can an application like this be applied to benefit...

Aided by a terrible "study" from Princeton last week, Facebook had the opportunity to deliver the best (data science) comeback ever... and they did. Princeton's study for those who have not read it goes along the lines of this.... Google searches for "Facebook" are falling......

The word "hacker" is basically being used for anything nowadays... "I did a supermarket shop this week in less time than it usually would take and I got a couple of really good deals" thus I am a Food Hacker.... "I managed to make it to work 5 mins early today and I saved a child's life, ended poverty, and helped birth a lamb on the way in"... I am a Commuter Hacker...  Well...