white rabbit

thanks to Rob for sending this my way: music_recommendations_four_approaches.

When I find the time, I'd like to tackle their question:
What Does Your Ideal Music Recommendation Engine Sound Like?

for now, it's back to work...

shanti,
mjh

santa fe saga

hopefully, I will find time to write and try and wrap up the first part of my hippie saga later tonight. For now, enjoy a wonderful piece of music with many memories/emotions attached:

	United States Coast Guard Band - Santa Fe Saga
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

first LDC book up for sale

Though I hope none of you will ever need this first book personally, I wanted to broadcast that the first in a series of Life Event books I am working on (from lawyers.com) is now up for sale.

Divorce: Articles from Lawyers.com: Life Event Series

In the coming months, there will be books published on several other Life Events ("Buy or Sell a House", "Automobile Accident", "Write a Will", "Identity Theft", etc.). Check out the on-line articles at lawyers.com and expect more announcements as the books go live.

shanti,
mjh

reposting "Counting my blessings"

Today, I miss you all, so I am going to repost something I wrote back in April of last year. I know more people now, so I need to update the list; also, life has changed over the past few months, but I am reposting it as it was. Perhaps this is a good thing, perhaps not.; the bottom line is that I want to tell those I love and miss that I love and miss them.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

counting my blessings...

I realize going into this post that I am treading dangerous ground. I miss my friends a lot, and I have been thinking lately about why. Obviously, the connection, be it deep and soul-touching or casual and social, is what begins/sustains any relationship. However, I have been discovering pieces of folks that I truly wish were still a part of my puzzle. Call it a realization and longing for "characteristics" over "character". So why boil an entire human being down to a few words? I admit it is unfair and a gross undervaluation of you all, but it would be impossible to focus otherwise. I truly miss the physical touch, sight, sound, and presence of so many people, but what I intend to do is define the most vivid piece of each person that is missing from my life. First, I have not pre-thought this out (it is a blog, you know), so if you are reading this and are not on the list, it simply means that I have not pre-thought this out, not that you mean zilch to me. I apologize in advance for the many people I will inadvertently leave out (and to the many females whose maiden names will be used). Second, if you don't like what is listed, sorry; I also miss that about you.

I miss (of course, in no particular order):
Wallace J's wisdom
Alison C's whole-heartedness
Melissa C's aura of empathy, humility, and craziness
Dacia F's wonderfully carefree whimsy
Jamie G's love for my friends
Carla S's intense sense of humor
Amy H's watchful inner eye
Amy R's steadfastness
Jamie W's ability to be positive and uplifting with witty, sarcastic realism
Rob R's mature ability to belong and not belong concurrently
Ed B's soft-spoken, wise understanding
Rob B's wit ("hot apple thighs"; still makes me laugh)
Jaime C's complete ability to "get" me
Don D's rock-and-roll, life-changing friendship
Lizzie T's beautiful compassion
Susan T's boundless pursuits
Jonathan H's deep, deep soul
Rick Z's always-looked-stoned casualness
Rachel D's passion and grace
Angie O's survival instincts
David B's charisma
Donna C's bubbly love of life and you
Henry C's ability to unite
Sally P's laughter
Tracy G's intensity
Allyson W's never-say-die, drama-filled, beautiful friendship
Brett H's unconditional love
Rachna R's ability to see the truth in things
Supriti P's ability to change the rules
Howard H's hugs and simple complexity
Kate B's gentle confrontations
Katie B's wonderful intenseness
Sima's G's strength
Julie W's inspired/inspiring art
Clay F's smart conversation
Yara A's comfortability
Harry P's "Harry"-ness
Jonathan D's shock value
Lindsey K's constant ambition
Erin H's tenacity
Jeff S's vision
Sharon D's ability to care just enough
Cyndi B's correct valuation of importance
Pam H's honesty
Christine's gentleness
Mike's New-York-style attitude
Vicki M's nervous confidence

*disclaimer* For the most part, I have left family out.

Point is: I miss you, and these are the primary reasons. Maybe tomorrow, I will list the second-most thing I miss about you. :o)

Consider me blessed to have known you all, and I am grateful for the qualities you shared with me.

shanti,
mjh

re:hippies, part 1 revisited

I was just going to post a comment to the comment string here, but instead I would like to revisit/restate my initial query. From my understanding (and I always must disclaim that I don't truly understand a lot of this, but I am trying to work through it), current applications use crowd-sourcing or some type of large data set to analyze the tastes of people and use that information to suggest "what" else might be purchased, listened to, watched, etc. Lots of consumer-oriented spaces do this, both online and in the real world.

For example, a program will report that out of 600 people who bought X Grateful Dead album, 500 of them also bought Y Phish album; therefore if I buy X, the program will suggest Y. That is a "what" comparison.

What I am interested is whether a "why" could be established instead of only a "what".

For example, out of 600 songs that I rate as excellent, could a program analyze the metadata (rhythm, speed, tonal range, etc.) of those songs and make a recommendation based on a "why"?

Or, using Melissa's example, could a program analyze my yearly shopping lists and not just recommend similar products (based on other shoppers' patterns), but instead analyze the ingredients, colors, texture, convenience (and other such metadata) and make recommendations based on "why" certain products were bought.

Make sense?

If programs could begin determining patterns of "why"s, it seems that a true AI would be much closer to realization. Not just what people are Googling, but why they are Googling it. Or in my case, not that Matt hates and loves hippies, but why he does so.

To be faced with such a program, more advanced than us (unless you can already figure yourself out), would truly be remarkable, scary, and evolutionarily progressive (none of the adjectives, by the way, that I ascribe to hippies).

shanti,
mjh

just a pic

me and the little one mesmerized by the Little Einsteins:




shanti,
mjh