Netflix

Five examples of Recommendation Systems on the web:

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Recommendation systems is application of Data Mining Technologies. I have researched about how to implement a recommendation system and as a part of my research, I studied recommendation systems that are already out there on the Internet and here are five examples of Recommendation systems on the web:

1. Amazon

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:

recommendation systems amazon customers who bought this also bought

Frequently Bought Together: (Example of Market Basket Analysis a.k.a Association Rules):

recommendation systems amazon frequently bought together

2. LinkedIn

You should read this: How does LinkedIn’s recommendation system work? – it would open up your brain to “recommendation” opportunities around you!

Jobs you may like + Groups you may like + Companies you may follow:

recommendation systems Linkedin Groups Jobs Companies

3. Netflix

Did you knew about Netflix Prize for improving their recommendation engine? If not you should read that!

Here’s their Movies you’ll love recommendation system:

netflix prize recommendation system

4. Twitter

People you may want to follow:

twitter who to follow recommendations data mining

5. Google

I do not have a screenshot but just wanted to point out the Google “personalize” (a.k.a recommends based on past behavior) search results based on your search history. And you can switch that off, if you want: Turn off search history personalization

Conclusion

In this blog-post, we saw examples of recommendation systems. The key take away is that there is more than one approach to building a recommendation system. The approaches can be based on 1. Past Behavior 2. Past Behavior of “friends” 3. Recommendation based on the Item that is being searched And you can definitely, Mix and Match!

And I hope this post helped you understand an application of data mining that’s all around us! And question: Where else do you see recommendation systems in action? Leave a comment!

Prepare yourselves for ‘Capped Data Plans’ VS ‘growing cloud computing adoption’ battle.

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I love cloud! And No, I am not a marketer – I am a technologist and I love cloud after minus-ing the marketing mumbo-jumbo/hype. And i would like cloud to emerge victorious. But i see a road block and that’s a problem. And…..I like pointing at problems (Oops!) I like coming up with creative solutions to problems.

So, in this post, I am going to talk about a problem Errrr, probable solution(s) to a potential problem that can adversely affect our lifestyle. To be specific, it can drastically increase the money we pay for Internet in future. And with growing cloud computing adoption, we will consume more bandwidth in future since we will have LOT of data on cloud. The more the data transfer between cloud and our device – the more will be the bandwidth usage.

Now, Today, it’s not a problem. At least not in USA – as we can live with “LIMITED” mobile (/Wireless cellular things like 4G, 3G, etc) data plans  combined with “UNLIMITED” Home data plans (Wired one’s – yes, the Internet made up of the fiber cables). So in future, “IF” we still have UNLIMITED home data plans around – this battle may fortunately never happen.

Wait…But think what if there will be no UNLIMITED plan?

I know it’s scary. So year by year, The internet usage would start doubling and Limit (cap) on data usage would be halved.

Wait..That’s sounds like an Inverse Moore’s law!

And what if the Home data plans would look like: $2 for every GB. At my current usage  – I would be paying little less than 80 dollars. And I can’t imagine my data usage if all my data is on cloud.  What if I do not have a local storage and instead, I’ll have all my data on some “cloud storage”. I can imagine a bill of $200 per month. And that’s a problem? You think so too?

No!? Unrealistic?! Home data plans cannot be capped?! Here’s the article: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/17/technology/netflix_canada/index.htm that talks about the challenge that Netflix faced in Canada because of “Capped Home data plans”. In fact, Netflix had to offer customization option in video quality that could help Canadian customers “save” on data usage. Any-who- if Home data plans were capped in Canada – I can say, this may happen in USA and other countries too.

And still if you think that capped home data plans are not a possibility. I would like to point out that, not long ago, we had UNLIMITED data plans through wireless cellular services and Now, we do not have it. (And I know – Sprint offers unlimited data plans. But could that not change too?)

So what can we do about it?

– Spread the word. Prepare yourselves for the battle! Contact Imp. People. Contact Gov. etc, etc, etc. ( Ok, I tweeted, Now what?! Any probable solution? )

Ideally, the data should not be capped. (And if it does happen – We can run an occupy Comcast campaign! Ok – sorry. could not resist it!)

realistically, How about a reasonable capped home data plan? What’s reasonable – Well, I mean I do not like 2 GB and 5 GB limits. That’s way too small. On the other hand a capped data plan of 1 TB is too high. It’s virtually unlimited. How about something in between which is reasonable for both – we THE CLOUD USERS and the Internet providers (ISP’s)? That is what I think – you may have different perspective on it – if you do, go ahead and post your views as comments.