Behind every smart web service is some even smarter web code. From the web retailers – calculating what books and films we might be interested in, to Facebook’s friend finding and image tagging services, to the search engines that guide us around the net.

It is these invisible computations that increasingly control how we interact with our electronic world.

At last month’s TEDGlobal conference, algorithm expert Kevin Slavin delivered one of the tech show’s most “sit up and take notice” speeches where he warned that the “maths that computers use to decide stuff” was infiltrating every aspect of our lives.

Among the examples he cited were a robo-cleaner that maps out the best way to do housework, and the online trading algorithms that are increasingly controlling Wall Street.

“We are writing these things that we can no longer read,” warned Mr Slavin.

“We’ve rendered something illegible. And we’ve lost the sense of what’s actually happening in this world we’ve made.”

Million-dollar book

Algorithms may be cleverer than humans but they don’t necessarily have our sense of perspective – a failing that became evident when Amazon’s price-setting code went to war with itself earlier this year.

“The Making of a Fly” – a book about the molecular biology of a fly from egg to fully-fledged insect – may have been a riveting read but it almost certainly didn’t deserve a price tag of $23.6m (£14.3m).

It hit that figure briefly on the site after the algorithms used by Amazon to set and update prices started outbidding each other.

It is a small taste of the chaos that can be caused when code gets smart enough to operate without human intervention, thinks Mr Slavin.

“This is algorithms in conflict without any adult supervision,” he said.

As code gets ever more sophisticated it is reaching its tentacles into all aspects of our lives, including our cultural preferences.

The algorithms used by movie rental site Netflix are now responsible for 60% of rentals from the site, as we rely less and less on our own critical faculties and word of mouth and more on what Mr Slavin calls the “physics of culture”.

Leading role

British firm Epagogix is taking this concept to its logical conclusion, using algorithms to predict what makes a hit movie.

It takes a bunch of metrics – the script, plot, stars, location – and crunches them all together with the box office takings of similar films to work out how much money it will make.

The system has, according to chief executive Nick Meaney, “helped studios to make decisions about whether to make a movie or not”.

In the case of one project – which had been assigned a £180m production cost – the algorithm worked out that it would only take £30m at the box office, meaning it simply wasn’t worth making.

For another movie, it worked out that the expensive female lead the studio had earmarked for a film would not yield any more of a return than using a less expensive star.

This rather clinical approach to film-making has irked some who believe it to be at odds with a more creative, organic way that they assume their favourite movies were made.

Mr Meaney is keen to play down the role of algorithms in Hollywood.

“Movies get made for many reasons and it credits us with more influence than we have to say we dictate what films are made.

“We don’t tell them what the plot should be. The studio uses this as valuable business information. We help people make tough decisions, and why not?” he said.

Despite this, the studio Epagogix has worked with for the last five years does not want to be named. It is, says Mr Meaney, a “sensitive” subject.

Secret sauce

If algorithms had a Hollywood-style walk of fame, the first star would have to go to Google.

Its famously secret code has propelled the search giant to its current position as one of the most powerful companies in the world.

No-one would doubt that its system has made searching a whole lot easier, but critics have long asked at what price?

In his book, The Filter Bubble, Eli Pariser questions how far Google’s data-crunching algorithm go in harvesting our personal data and shaping the web we see accordingly.

Meanwhile, a recent study by psychologists at Columbia University found that reliance on search engines for answers is actually changing the way humans think.

“Since the advent of search engines, we are reorganising the way we remember things. Our brains rely on the internet for memory in much the same way they rely on the memory of a friend, family member or co-worker,” said report author Betsy Sparrow.

Increasingly, she argues, we are knowing where information can be found rather than retaining knowledge itself.

Flash crash

Move over traders, there’s a new code in town

In the financial markets, code is increasingly becoming king as complex number-crunching algorithms work out what to buy and what to sell.

Up to 70% of Wall Street trading is now run by so-called black box or algo-trading.

That means, along with the wise guy city traders, banks and brokers now employ thousands of smart guy physicists and mathematicians.

But even machine precision, supported by the human code wizards, doesn’t guarantee things will run smoothly.

In the so-called Flash Crash of 2.45 on May 6 2010, a five minute dip in the markets caused momentary chaos.

“We are running through the United States with dynamite and rocksaws so an algorithm can close the deal three microseconds faster.”
Kevin Slavin. Algorithm expert

A rogue trader was blamed for the 10% Dow Jones index fall but in reality, it was the computer program that the unnamed trader was using that was really to blame.

The algorithm sold 75,000 stocks with a value of £2.6bn in just 20 minutes, causing other super-fast trading algorithms to follow suit.

Just as a bionic limb can extend a human’s capability for strength and stamina, the electronic market showed its capacity to exaggerate and accelerate minor blips.

No-one has ever managed to pinpoint exactly what happened, and the market recovered minutes later.

The chaos forced regulators to introduce circuit breakers to halt trades if the machines start misbehaving.

The algorithms of Wall Street may be the cyber-equivalent of the 80s yuppie, but unlike their human counterparts, they don’t demand red braces, cigars and champagne. What they want is fast pipes.

Spread Networks has been building one such fibre-optic connection, shaving three microseconds off the 825-mile (1327km) trading journey between Chicago and New York.

Meanwhile, a transatlantic fibre optic link between Nova Scotia in Canada and Somerset in the UK is being built primarily to serve the needs of algorithmic traders and will send shares from London to New York and back in 60 milliseconds.

“We are running through the United States with dynamite and rock saws so an algorithm can close the deal three microseconds faster, all for a communications system that no humans will ever see,” said Mr Slavin.

As algorithms spread their influence beyond machines to shape the raw landscape around them, it might be time to work out exactly how much they know and whether we still have time to tame them.

Jane Wakefield. BBC Technology reporter 23/08/11

A new study by the Radcati Group discovered that 40% of UK men were spending 2 hours a day dealing with e mails and that 62% of men were sending work e mails out of hours.

“We’re living through an information overload” says psychologist and stress expert Dr David Lewis. “Our studies show that this excess and inescapablility of e mails is a major contributing factor to stress.”

Using leisure time to deal with work e mails enhances stress levels. Our bodeis are not deisgned to deal with consistennt stress. Stress may be teh buzzword of teh decade but it need sto be taken seriously, it is now being blamed for 85% of chronic ilnesses in the Western world.

“It can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety and even mental breakdown. Increased e mailing can also lead to alienation and disenchantment.” says Dr Lewis.

So how do you stop e mails taking over your life? Professor Cary Cooper from Lancaster University says the secret is not to constantly check them and instead impose strict rules. “Only check your e mails every hour at the most” he advises.

“For many there  is no way to answer every e mail. It is important to understand this and not feel guilty. Prioritise the important ones, do some others later and forget about the ones that could drown you.”

Writer Matthew Shepherd got a bit carreid away creating his under construction blog  placeholder page. The result is a dystopian epic that projects a future where followers of Bansky and Damien Hirst will fight to the death.

Follow it all here

Blank Mag is published on WordPress and in our time we have downloaded downloaded and activated hundreds of WordPress plugins. And then deactivatedalmost all of them. Most plugins are too buggy, too time consuming, and/or too unimportant to bother with. But these wordpress plugins are good.We reckon they are some of the best wordpress plugins around.

LOCAL CURRENCY

Want a plugin to convert the currency on your blog to the currnecy of the reader? Well Local Currency is the perfect plugin.

In your posts you write prices in your home currency and LocalCurrency will detect each of your visitor’s IP address and automatically convert that price to their currency.

Let’s say you are in the United States writing about a cool hotel and mention that it costs $100 per night. Your blog readers in London will see the price listed as $100 (GBP£69.59) per night, those in Beijing will see $100 (CNY?684) per night, those in Seoul will see $100 (KRW?135,744) per night and so on. How cool is that?!

A great plugin for instance for customizing your travel blog for your international readers!

GEO MASHUP – Google Mapping Plugin

Want to insert Google maps into your posts but tired of visting the Google Maps everytime?

This is the best mapping plugins we have found. The plugin puts a mapping tool is on the same page you use to write your post, so there’s no need to go to the Google Maps website. Input the address you’d like to map, type [geo_mashup_map] in your post where you’d like your map to appear and that’s it.

Often  you don’t even need to know the street address you want to map.

In order for you to appear in searches the major search engines need know that your blog exists.

Submit it to Google, Bing and Yahoo

2. Change permalinks

Change the permalink settings for your blog posts from the url that includes the number to the one that includes the blog post title like this:

http://blankmag.net/geek/top-tips-to-promote-your-blog/

This can be done going into Settings -> Permalinks

Click on Custom Structure and add “/%category%/%postname%/”

3. Link to other posts in site

Where relevant, link your posts to your other blog posts as well as the other sites in your niche.

4. Use a SEO Plug in

Use a wordpress SEO Plug in  to add title, description and keyword for your blog, posts and pages.

Good SEO wordpress plug ins

All in One SEO Pack plugin   HeadSpace plug in

5. Submit your blog to Blog Communities

Submit your blog to good blog communities Google will index your blog as these communities have good search engine rankings. And you will start getting followers.

Good bLog communities include: MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, Blogged and NetworkedBlogs (you will need a Facebook account for this)

6. Submit to Blog Directories

Submit your blog to blog directories in the relevant category(ies). This is very powerful, it’s like being listed in the yellow pages  The more places that you have your blog listed in, the more places people will find your blog in!

Some of the best blog directories are:

BlogTopList Buzzerhut TopBlogging

Technorati – This is a leading blog directory which indexes millions of blog posts in real time. It will definitely get your blog indexed. However, it can take quite some time before your blog gets listed in their directory and indexed. Don’t get discouraged though as the wait will be worth it in the long run.

ChangeDetection gives you the opportunity to have your blog listed in their public directory if you choose that over their private directory. Your blog will then be published in the news section. Any changes to your blog will be picked up by the search engines and get indexed.

7. Use Website Check and Stats Sites

When you check your blog stats on these sites, your blog information will be stored and this will help your blog to get indexed as most of them have good search engine rankings.

Good places to check your blog stats:

You can check your blog stats here:  CubeStart.com, StatBrain.com, WhoIs.com, QuarkBase.com, UrlFan.com and AboutTheDomain.com.

8. Submit your feed to Feed Directories

Submit your RSS feed to feed directories Thereafter, they will keep track of your newly published posts and index them on their sites. When people click on your blog post title on these sites, they will be redirected to your original blog post – sending you free traffic!

Good feed directories include:

FeedAdage octofinder

Also submit it your feed to Yahoo

9. Register your blog with Pinging Sites

Pinging is a very important step if you are serious about grabbing the top positions on the search engines with your content.

Pinging is an easy way to let the search engines know that you have published something new on your blog so that they can check it out. Also, ping every piece of content you publish such as articles, press releases, podcasts and so on.

Good pinging sites include:

Pingomatic.com, PingMyBlog.com, Pingler.com, AutoPinger.com, FeedPing.com.

10. Sign up to Social Media Sites

When registering your accounts on social media sites such as Facebook.com, YouTube.com etc., use your blog name as your username in order to get your blog indexed quickly.

Share your new blog posts on all social media sites and ask for comments and retweets — more comments mean higher Google ranking.

11. Promote your site on Social Bookmarking Sites

Share your content with millions of readers online by submitting your newly published blog posts to social bookmarking sites.

Good Social Bookmarking sites include:

Digg.com Delicious.com StumbleUpon.com

OnlyWire is a service that allows you to submit your new blog posts to multiple social bookmarking sites across the web at a touch of a button.

It’s important to use appropriate keywords or tags for your bookmarks.

12. Tweet on Twitter

Set up account on Twitter. Link to your site and regularly tweet to promote your posts.

13. Content Is King

The above strategies will mean nothing if you don’t post good content regularly — following these tips will just be a waste of time. You don’t want to drive traffic to a blog without enough valuable content, do you? The key is to remain consistent with your blog posts so that people can keep coming back to your blog to read more.

Over the past few years,I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going – so far as I can tell – but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.”

read more

DoFollow – Blog Directory & Resources

London Sightseeing – London tourist guide. Everything you need to know about visiting London. Information on London’s best tourist attractions. Its parks museums and places to shop. Regents Park, Covent Garden, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus.

Infertility – Information help and cures for male and female infertility. IVF, IUI and fertility treatment news.

Do Follow List

Green Energy Blog

If you wish to have your blog added to this list please drop us a line at editor@blankmag.net

Computers pile up in Ghana dump

By Will Ross  BBC West Africa correspondent

Have you ever wondered where old computers end up? China and India have been popular destinations, but in Ghana the piles of old computers are increasing every week even though the trade is illegal.

As we upgrade at an ever faster rate, campaigners are calling for action to prevent toxic, electronic or “e” waste being dumped on poor countries.

The United Nations believes we generate between 20m and 50m tonnes of e-waste around the world each year.

Agbobloshie dump site in Ghana’s capital, Accra, is a computer graveyard. But PCs are not given a decent, safe burial – they are dumped on this expanding, toxic treasure trove.

Many of the well-known brands are there: Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Philips, Canon, Hewlett Packard.

“ I’m looking in the computers for copper and iron which I can sell to pay the [school] fees ”

Ibrahim Adams

Labels give away the fact that many lived their useful lives in the UK: “Richmond upon Thames College”, “Southampton City Council”, “Kent County Council”, are just a few.

They are dissected for any reusable parts like lenses from the disc drives and circuit boards, and with global scrap prices soaring, metals are in high demand.

Fifteen-year-old Ibrahim Adams picks up a rock and smashes an old computer screen to smithereens.

He then tears off the mesh behind the glass, and after a couple of minutes he is squashing the screen’s metal casing under foot.

If he collects five of them he might be able to trade them in for about 20 cents (10p).

“My headmaster sent me home last week because I hadn’t paid the school fees.

“I’m looking in the computers for copper and iron which I can sell to pay the fees,” he tells me as his eyes dart around the dump in search of more treasure.

Moon boots

To gain an idea of how people in the rich countries sometimes provide inappropriate gifts, you only need to take a look at Ibrahim’s footwear which he found abandoned on the same rubbish heap.

He is wearing a pair of red moon boots that once graced European ski resorts.

No, it has not started snowing in steamy Ghana. But this seemingly out-of-place attire provides good protection as Ibrahim trudges through the toxic sludge, smashing screens in search of scrap.

He needs to raise the equivalent of around $80 before he can return to school. It will take him a few weeks but in the meantime he, his nine-year-old brother Dallad and the rest of the army of young workers in Agbobloshie are putting their health at risk.

In large areas of this dump the ground is no longer brown earth, it is a carpet of broken glass. But what is not so visible poses a greater danger.

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace took soil and water samples from the scrap market and found high concentrations of leads, phthalates or plastic softeners and dioxins that are known to promote cancer.

“Chemicals like lead are very dangerous especially for children. They affect the brain when it is developing and therefore cause a lower IQ when they grow up,” Greenpeace’s Kim Schoppink says.

“Other chemicals we found cause cancer or disrupt your hormone system.”

Goal posts

Agbobloshie may well be leading in the competition to find 101 uses for an obsolete PC.

A game of football is under way in a clearing and upturned computers provide a seat for a bored goalkeeper.

“ My research shows that about 90% of the computers are just junk ”

Environmental journalist Mike Anane

PCs even provide rickety stepping stones over a toxic bog in one area of the rubbish dump.

As people tip-toe across the “crazy paving” of obsolete monitor casings, they balance bags of recyclable computer innards on their heads.

They are heading for the fires where bundles of computer cables are thrown.

Thick black smoke blows across the site seven days a week. In order to retrieve the valuable copper from the cables, the plastic coating is burnt off and old car tyres are thrown on to the flames to keep the fires burning.

You are fortunate that the internet does not provide you with a sense of smell because Agbobloshie is a real test for the nostrils.

In addition to the toxic e-waste, the discarded rubbish and the acrid smoke which blows over the suburb, it is also a huge open air toilet.

People work there seven days a week, taking showers after a brief visit, and the water runs black down the plug hole.

‘Poisoning the poor’

In the port of Tema, environmental journalist Mike Anane watches as two more containers stacked with old computers are unloaded onto trucks.

One is from the UK and the other from Holland.

There are international laws banning the export of computer waste but people are getting round this by labelling the shipments “usable second-hand goods”.

“My research shows that about 90% of the computers are just junk. They just don’t work. This is dumping.”

“About 10% are put to good use the rest go straight to Agbobloshie dump site and other dumps around the country where they contaminate ground water, surface water, the rivers and the streams. And they all end up in the sea and that’s where we get all the fish,” he tells me.

Greenpeace is calling for an end to what it calls “poisoning the poor”. It wants electronics manufacturers to stop using hazardous materials and to take responsibility for the whole lifecycle of their products.

But unless waste management policies are enforced, in our disposable age of frequent computer upgrades, this poisonous supply will not be drying up soon.

The next time you throw out an old PC you might want to find out if it is headed for a landfill site near your home or for Ghana where it could be crushed under Ibrahim’s moon boots.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/7543489.stm

Published: 2008/08/05 16:34:09 GMT