tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5819898692345221601.post185341594525862433..comments2023-10-04T13:05:38.186+01:00Comments on Nick Lansley's Technology for Tesco.com Blog: R&D Christmas Experiment: Tesco Instant - Write-up and PlayNick Lansleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087509895945257528noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5819898692345221601.post-11756149563057461112011-01-02T12:46:51.539+00:002011-01-02T12:46:51.539+00:00Be better if you used AJAX for the request submiss...Be better if you used AJAX for the request submissions!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5819898692345221601.post-4139609871271596002010-12-29T18:08:12.525+00:002010-12-29T18:08:12.525+00:00Nice attempt Nick!
I've been working on sear...Nice attempt Nick! <br /><br />I've been working on search algorithms over the last days (my problem is to match personal full names against watch lists) and have some humble conclusions so far..<br /><br />1. The problem is easily underestimated<br />Like studying languages, you get enthusiastic with the 1st results, but what really makes the difference is the last 20% (fine tuning) which takes 80% of the effort.<br /><br />2. We are reinventing the wheel<br />You just google for search algorithms at google to be flooded. There are so many solutions that the difficulty is to choose the appropriate one(s) to nail the last 20%<br /><br />Specifically trying your demo:<br /><br />1. looking for ILLY (coffe)<br />- too many results for COFFE<br />- ILL or ILLI don't do it<br />- the only way to find it was typing ILLY<br /><br />Are you considering misspelling? <br />Are you giving the same weight to each single word?<br />"Illy Dark Roast Espresso Machine Coffee 250G" <br /><br />2. looking for BERTOLLI (tomato sauce)<br />- BERTOLLI come in the lexic group but cant find it in the results (even clicking on the link)<br />- the only way to find it was typing PECORINO (couldn't find the BASILICO one I used to buy :-)<br /><br /><br />Think one way to get there is creating an open contest.<br />It doesn't need to be those 1M from the http://www.netflixprize.com/<br />Get 5 or 10K for 2 or 4 months and let the comp sci kids know about it (specially now with the fee's raise :) I'm sure they'll come with a far better solution for a fraction of the price of a contractor or off the shelf solution. Everybody will be happy. <br /><br />Just write the rules/dataset/sandbox and spend the rest of your time spreading the word and thinking about TNBT<br /><br />If you like competing/hands on, ask somebody else to manage the contest and take part on it :-))) <br /><br />Happy new year mate!<br />AndreAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com