Many of the biggest online retailers employ recommendation engines on their sites. Netflix started a contest in 2006 open to anyone willing to help improve its recommendation algorithms. Specifically, the challenge was to create an algorithim to best the one Netflix currently uses by 10%. The prize: $1 million.

After nearly three years, it looks like we just may have a winner. Check out the Bits blog on NYTimes.com for an interesting post on the achievement. As per the rules of ..read more

The perfect news to start off Friday: No more doom and gloom! From government figures released yesterday, there are increasing signs that our economy is improving. Leading indicators have risen for the second straight month, less people are taking unemployment benefits, and analysts are predicting the economy will grow in Q3 2009.

Check out the full article here.

In this morning’s USA Today, there’s an article in the “Life” section about new ways publishing companies are reaching out to its youngest audiences. Blackberries, eReaders, and other mobile devices are becoming more and more prevalent, and the under-30 generation is turning away from print media and instead relying on the Internet for their news, entertainment, and other media. This article descirbes efforts being made by several major publishing firms (such as Simon & Schuster and Penguin) to develop new ..read more