The Peter Principle states that in most hierarchical organisations, there is a natural tendency for employees to rise in the management hierarchy through promotion until they reach the levels of their respective incompetence. This is a statistical statement about people in an organisation, and there are cultural and management practices that can be put in place to … More An Email Test for the Peter Principle
We have all read about network effects and how they underlie the business models of fast-growing and high-margin companies like Facebook, Google, Netflix, and Apple. The book Platform Revolution by Parker, Van Alstyne and Choudary seeks to distill the key characteristics of these so-called Platform Businesses, whose overarching purpose is “to consummate matches among users … More Financial Intelligence as a Platform Business
The best investments I have made over the years tend to be the ones where the investment case is really simple and obvious, requiring only basic common sense and at best secondary-school arithmetic. In almost every case, the opportunity presented itself in a wider market downturn and the main thing I had to overcome to profit … More Opportunities of a Life Time?
Many beginning researchers find it hard to cope with the sheer amount of reading they have to do to come up to speed in a certain technical field, and the issue is often compounded by the “lacking the prerequisites to the read the prerequisites” problem due to inadequate mathematical training at the undergraduate level. Here’s … More A Note on Problem Solving for Young Researchers
I have just returned from my annual pilgrimage to Singapore and here are some interesting optics that caught my attention during this trip. I have seen this sign multiple times before at Pasir Ris Park from previous trips. But this trip is the first time I encountered a 3-D version when this lone ranger popped … More Interesting Singapore Optics
There is a lot of work in the data management community that looks at data quality as a first-class problem, capable of being solved largely as an independent problem that can then benefit many downstream systems. There is certainly a lot going for this line of thinking. My own view, drummed into me by a former NASA scientist who I … More The Data Quality Trap
Bloom Filters is a popular technique for privacy-preserving record linkage. However, recent work by Christen et al [1] and others have shown that Bloom Filters (BF) are susceptible to different forms of frequency attack. There are many ideas on hardening BF to protect against frequency attacks, and one idea we will explore in this blog article … More Hardening Bloom Filters using Paillier Encryption
It’s not always easy for a technically competent data scientist to make the transition to a data science leadership role. Here are some interview questions I use to assess whether a candidate has successfully made that transition. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you applied for this role? What is … More Interview Questions for a Data Science Leadership Role
I moved the white clouds into a bigger pond under the deck in preparation for the onslaught of Canberra winter. Here they are on 11 June. Plus some friends, on the same day. I didn’t see them for most of August, but I kept feeding every few days, hoping somehow they can beat the odds. … More Winter Tales – Part 2
I planted some daffodil seeds in mid June. A little later than recommended, but I was hoping and the seeds didn’t disappoint. By 12 August, we can see evidence of life bursting from beneath the soil. By 19 August, this looks like it’s working. By 2 Sep, one can almost glimpse the flowers. Four days … More Winter Tales – Part 1
Combating terrorist financing
My Irrational Life
Updates on my research and expository papers, discussion of open problems, and other maths-related topics. By Terence Tao
Mental Models 4 Life 