[Miscellany] Some reflections from my use of technology

When technology works well, we don't think about it. We take it for granted. But some recent “technology failures” have led me to reflect on its role in my life, and how it impacts on how I see other human beings and the world. So much more than a watch My Apple Watch stopped working. … Continue reading [Miscellany] Some reflections from my use of technology

Sentiment analysis of baseball stadium reviews

I was cleaning my inbox over the Christmas break, and saw a 2017 message from someone working at company called reviewtrackers. He wanted to draw my attention to some interesting work that he had done at the company, analysing 130,000 online reviews of major league baseball stadiums (since the message, he seems to have left … Continue reading Sentiment analysis of baseball stadium reviews

Some thoughts on where and what to blog

Today is the 10th anniversary of my blog. Or the 10th blogday, as my former colleague, Debbie Witney, called it in a comment made in the post published this time last year. In this 10th year, I published 55 posts, bringing the total to 554 posts. That’s over 35,000 words in the last year alone, … Continue reading Some thoughts on where and what to blog

Recent publications #2

A couple of years ago, I published a blog post giving an overview of the academic work that I had published recently. That led up to very interesting conversations and collaborations. So, I thought that I should write a short update on what I have published in the last couple of years. Let’s start with the … Continue reading Recent publications #2

Why referral programmes work so well (but can also backfire)

Companies have several ways of acquiring new customers. One approach is to open a shop or place a sales executive where they know that customers are likely to be. Another approach is to invest in advertising, telling customers about the product and where they may find it. Yet another approach is to incentivise existing customers … Continue reading Why referral programmes work so well (but can also backfire)

[Miscellany] Star Wars in Fortnite, the Simpsons, and a maths book

Star Wars on Fortnite Are you a Star Wars fan? And do you play Fortnite? If you answered yes to these two questions you were in for a treat, last week, when the Star Wars franchise teamed up with Epic Games for a special feature in the very popular multi-player game, Fortnite.   Fortnite players … Continue reading [Miscellany] Star Wars in Fortnite, the Simpsons, and a maths book

[Miscellany] Automated news, Deepfake Christmas video, and Innocent newsletter

Automated news It has emerged that, last week, the BBC used computers to compose nearly 700 news articles relating to the election’s results. The news corporation is describing it as "machine-generated journalism", and justifying it as thus: "Using machine assistance, we generated a story for every single constituency that declared last night with the exception … Continue reading [Miscellany] Automated news, Deepfake Christmas video, and Innocent newsletter

Peloton’s growth plan will annoy its loyal customers

Twenty-three years ago, Fred Reichheld wrote in the book “The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value” (no affiliate link) that firms should be wary of aggressive customer acquisition initiatives. He warned firms that: “Winning more and more new customers could slowly put you out of business” (page 89). This is … Continue reading Peloton’s growth plan will annoy its loyal customers