Observations From Hadleyville: PREDICTIVE SOFTWARE

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

PREDICTIVE SOFTWARE

I received another of those interminable internet advertisements. This one from Amazon. On the verge of clicking the delete button, I recognized a book cover. Humm, I already own that book. So I read the notice.

“Amazon.com has new recommendations for you based on items you purchased or told us you own.”

The listed works were: The Cat Dancers & Spider Mountain by PT Deutermann. Serenity—the Movie. Deception by Randy Alcorn. No Legal Grounds & Try Dying by James Scott Bell. Down Range by Dick Couch. 40 Days, Encountering Jesus Between the Resurrection and the Ascension by Alton Gansky. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden. The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan.

Of these books, I already own the Highlighted ones. There were twelve other recommendations in a MORE category that I don’t own, though My wife owns one. Seems Predictive Software might have something going for it.

One thing their predictive software did not take into account; how they categorize types. There was a single, truly glaring contradiction. The Atheistic Philip Pullman “Dark Materials” trilogy is NOT something I’m looking for. That is, unless I’m preparing lessons for my course on Christian Apologetics.

1 comment:

Kathleen Flynn said...: Amazon knows way too much about you. It's the 21st century version of the KGB. But, as you've discovered- just like our CIA they get stuff wrong too.; December 4, 2007 at 2:34 PM

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WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WRITERS

The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot. You also have to finish what you write, even though no one wants it yet. If you don't learn to finish your work, no one will ever want to see it. The biggest mistake new writers make is carrying around copies of unfinished work to inflict on their friends.

I am sure it has been done with less, but you should be prepared to write and throw away a million words of finished material. By finished, I mean completed, done, ready to submit, and written as well as you know how at the time you wrote it.
-Jerry Pournelle

WHAT'S THIS HADLEYVILLE THING?

Those of you familiar with Mark Twain’s works might recognize my blog title. As Samuel Clemons grew older, he became increasingly disillusioned with humanity. Towards the end he began referring to the Damned Human Race; employing the secular and religious epithet at one stroke.

I find I’ve not reached that level of despair myself. I still believe in redemption and I still see signs of nobility even among we fallen, damned creatures. So, I could not bring myself to call this blog “On the Damned Human Race.” I do however, resonate with another of Clemmons stories; “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” And viola, there you have it. “Observations From Hadleyville.”