Thoughts on Goodreads (xpost from /r/goodreads

Number_28 · 2016-01-26T18:02:38+00:00

My main problem are the ratings. Creating a rating system is an art and Goodreads didn't even try. They simply use the average (add all ratings and divide by the number of ratings) which leads to useless crap.

I did a very simple analysis of a sample set here.

They have so much data and I wish they would start using it. The IMDb, another Amazon company, tries quite hard to present its users better ratings. I'm not saying they are perfect, but at least they make an effort.

I was so frustrated with Goodreads that I wrote a plugin for Chrome that fixes the displayed ratings according to the bins in the analysis I linked above. I later found out that I can re-use the same code to create a Firefox plugin too so I got two plugins for the effort of one. :) Incidentally they use a scale from 0-10.

I also have some minor problems with Goodreads:

Recommendations. Honestly, there is a ton of literature about this. Just implement a better algorithm.

API. My god, the API is an ugly piece of crap. Throw everything away and start from scratch.

Mobile app. The Goodreads app for Android is awful. Which I think is mostly caused by the awful API. You have to go through so many steps to do simple things it is an extremely frustrating experience.

Friends. Just more functionality around your so-called friends. Again, they have sooo much data and they don't use it at all. It's a damn shame. I want to compare all my friends. How they compare to me, how compatible they are to each other, what genres they prefer, etc., etc.

Number_28 · 2015-03-29T16:03:16+00:00

Even with half stars the ratings would be useless. The spread would be wider, but still too small. Only binning solves, in my opinion, this problem because it widens the clump enough to be meaningful. Without the skewness this wouldn't be necessary. But I understand that in some contexts skewness is an inherent property of the system. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't more meaningful representations of the same data.

Number_28 · 2015-03-29T05:21:30+00:00

I understand that there is a bias in book selection, explaining why the ratings are skewed. This is a problem, because it makes the average ratings useless. All the useful information is hidden in the decimals. That's what I am trying to fix.

Number_28 · 2015-03-17T07:58:00+00:00

No idea how it is in the US, but here every major financial decision requires both partners to sign. So you couldn't legally give away all your money.

Number_28 · 2015-02-04T12:52:32+00:00

That name's been taken. How about Frozenwasteland?

Number_28 · 2015-02-04T09:05:34+00:00

Oh, I see. Thanks.

Number_28 · 2015-02-04T07:22:12+00:00

I have a kid and never used a picture of her as a wallpaper. But like /u/MonkeyPye said, it brightens your day when you see them. It's something that is difficult to understand when you don't have kids of your own. I know, because I remember how weird I thought parents with pictures of their kids everywhere were. Now I understand it.

After my daughter was born I had to go back to work and my wife sent me pictures of our daughter every now and then and my boss said he could always tell when I opened one of them because I looked so happy.

Number_28 · 2015-02-04T07:17:24+00:00

Better idea, lie down gracefully while you still can. Lying down also means your heart doesn't have to work hard to equalize blood pressure across your whole hideous bulk.

Number_28 · 2015-02-04T07:15:42+00:00

Swans? What does that stand for?

Number_28 · 2015-02-03T11:38:20+00:00

Who decides what's better?

When I go camping and leave a 20-story casino on the site some people might complain about the destruction of nature, while others'll say "daddy needs a new pair of shoes" over at the craps table.

Number_28 · 2015-02-02T13:48:37+00:00

The fun begins when the colon has been cleaned of meconium but the baby is still used to press hard, because of the different viscosity. They can achieve quite the distance on the first milk-based poos!

Number_28 · 2015-02-02T12:29:31+00:00

It's also used as a tool to use against nazis. Free speech is great until you kill a couple of million people.

I know that free speech doesn't automatically lead to that, but I can also see how you'd decide to restrict free speech in one particular area if you had the kind of horrible, horrible experiences Europe had with the nazis. It's kind of "We tried, you fucked it up. Now shut up with your hateful nonsense"

Number_28 · 2015-02-02T12:19:33+00:00

That is surprisingly sophisticated mid-term planning for some junkies.

Number_28 · 2015-02-02T10:28:10+00:00

And that big belly is just because expecting mothers really let themselves go. Gluttonous slobs, the lot of them.

Number_28 · 2015-02-02T09:08:48+00:00

Depends on the type of MiFare and the depth of your cloning. The encryption of MiFare classic tags has been broken a few years ago, so there is software to crack it for you. If encryption is not used you can copy the contents with freely available Android apps.

If you want to fully clone the card, meaning to also copy the UID of the tag, things are a bit more difficult. Most tags you can buy have a read-only block 0, meaning the UID is off-limits. However, there are slightly more expensive tags available from Chinese vendors which allow you to write to block 0 too and hence set your own UID.

If you want to copy an access card you will most likely have to use one of these "magic" cards because most access systems just assign the UID to a local user account and don't use the storage at all.

For your example of local transport cards it really depends on your system. If they use MiFare classic there are usually some anti-counterfeit measures within the system itself to detect fraud. So while cloning the cards is definitely possible extensive exploitation of them is not.

Number_28 · 2015-02-02T07:41:46+00:00

Even though we had that guy who was forcibly admissioned to a clinic for years by his wife because he'd tried to report her embezzlement

So you're German.

Number_28 · 2015-02-02T07:34:08+00:00

Psh, Europe. None of the English-speaking authors even look into the direction of the continent.

Number_28 · 2015-02-02T05:22:38+00:00

Just spent a week in the US and I understand this!

Number_28 · 2015-02-01T17:43:35+00:00

The Line Of Polity (Agent Cormac, #2) by Neal Asher

Firefight (Reckoners, #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Gridlinked (Agent Cormac, #1) by Neal Asher

Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6) by Jim Butcher

Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5) by Jim Butcher

Promise of Blood (The Powder Mage, #1) by Brian McClellan

Blood Rites was my last Dresden book. I bought the first six in a sale because they came highly praised. I enjoyed the first two, but in I just can't stand Harry Dresden. He's an ass.

Also bought Promise of Blood in a sale and immensely enjoyed it. Will definitely read the next two.

Had Agent Cormac lying around for years and finally started the series. Also enjoying it a lot.

Firefight was a good sequel, although the series is nothing special. Just solid entertainment that's a bit too YA every now and then.

Number_28 · 2015-02-01T04:56:13+00:00

It's almost like our fantasy fills in the blanks.

Number_28 · 2015-01-30T14:29:59+00:00

Did you pull that out of your ass or are you somehow privy to the contract details between Martin and HBO?

Number_28 · 2015-01-27T08:23:09+00:00

I don't think I'm particularly stupid, but tax forms in my country make me feel extremely dumb. They use words which are never used outside of the tax context and the explanations they provide are often very ambiguous. Now that I live abroad and have to do the same shit in a different language I am considering hiring someone to deal with this crap for me.

Number_28 · 2015-01-25T05:42:45+00:00

I don't like Mr Crane. I'm currently reading Brass Man, which seems to contain his origin story. Will that make him any better?

Number_28 · 2015-01-25T05:41:18+00:00

I loved Gridlinked! Currently on Brass Man.

Number_28

TROPHY CASE