Four short links: 2 May 2019
Network Computation, Algorithmic Bias, Social Robotics, Single Founders Do Fine
- When Should the Network Be the Computer? — Researchers have repurposed programmable network devices to place small amounts of application computation in the network, sometimes yielding orders-of-magnitude performance gains. At the same time, effectively using these devices requires careful use of limited resources and managing deployment challenges. This paper provides a framework for principled use of in-network processing. We provide a set of guidelines for building robust and deployable in-network primitives, along with a taxonomy to help identify which applications can benefit from in-network processing and what types of devices they should use.
- The Myth of the Impartial Machine — nifty exploration of algorithmic bias and where it comes from, with interactive data demos.
- What Can We Learn from Social Robotics Failures? (IEEE Spectrum) — Long-term engagement is the holy grail, and the Gordian knot; We need artists; Embodiment does create emotional bonds; Design matters. This line got me: All-in-all, I predict that when designers will start their own social robotics companies and hire engineers, rather than the other way around, we will finally discover what the hidden need for home robots was in the first place.
- Cofounders and Single Founders — In this paper, we examine the implications of founding alone versus as a group by using a unique data set of crowdfunded companies that together generated approximately $358 million in total revenue. We show that companies started by solo founders survive longer than those started by teams. Further, organizations started by solo founders generate more revenue than organizations started by founder pairs, and do not perform significantly different than larger teams. This suggests that the taken-for-granted assumption among scholars that entrepreneurship is best performed by teams should be reevaluated, with implications for theories of team performance and entrepreneurial strategy.
