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Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

hilarymason.com

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Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#91

Post by fredsanford »

geofft wrote: post #81
batista wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Because nothing in that bio points to that. Actually the whole thing is unbelievably vague and opaque. And these kind of cutesy oneliner descriptions of one's skills make me cringe: "Simply: I make beautiful things with data". OK, she works as a "chief scientist" (that's not even a job, for us, old time folks, but anyway) at bitly (a URL shortening service, i.e as far away from a real business as you can get,…

"Chief scientist" is absolutely a real job. Why would you think it's not?

Grady Booch had the title of Chief Scientist at several successful companies.

Is he legit in the "titled world?" :)

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#92

Post by batista »

dherman wrote: post #78
batista wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Because nothing in that bio points to that. Actually the whole thing is unbelievably vague and opaque. And these kind of cutesy oneliner descriptions of one's skills make me cringe: "Simply: I make beautiful things with data". OK, she works as a "chief scientist" (that's not even a job, for us, old time folks, but anyway) at bitly (a URL shortening service, i.e as far away from a real business as you can get,…

[Disclaimer: I have decades of first-hand knowledge of Hilary's awesomeness, going back to when we were CS students together in college. So yeah, I'm defending my friend.] I'd like to ask you to think twice before publicly questioning someone's credentials like this. Whatever your intentions, picking on someone's CV just because of a blog post you disagree with is not only rude, but it sends a message -- particularly…

>it sends a message -- particularly to women in tech -- that if they speak publicly, if they offer up their opinion, they will be attacked not about the content of their point but about their competence to speak at all.

Oh, don't worry about that. I'm an equal opportunity insulter! I didn't even care that she is a woman or not while making my point. Nor do I think that women in tech need special treatment. We all get what we all get. Do you see exchanges between males being any more courteous?

Notice also how I avoided to speak about their opinion on Yahoo at all -- they might or might no be 100% correct.

I only responded to the statement by some parent poster, that her CV "proves" that she is especially knowledgable in the ads field.

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#93

Post by dredmorbius »

yen223 wrote: post #75
dredmorbius wrote: post #34

Yet another reason I: - Use a Thinkpad with a trackpoint. - Disable the touchpad. - Use ad-blocking. - Don't use Yahoo.

As a guy with tremors, the trackpoint is even worse than a touchpad.

What is your preferred pointing device, if any?

Know a few folks who have to deal with Parkinsons, which a lot of computing devices don't accommodate particularly well.

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#94

Post by batista »

geofft wrote: post #81
batista wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Because nothing in that bio points to that. Actually the whole thing is unbelievably vague and opaque. And these kind of cutesy oneliner descriptions of one's skills make me cringe: "Simply: I make beautiful things with data". OK, she works as a "chief scientist" (that's not even a job, for us, old time folks, but anyway) at bitly (a URL shortening service, i.e as far away from a real business as you can get,…

"Chief scientist" is absolutely a real job. Why would you think it's not?

Because it's a non descriptive BS title / buzzword?

Which is very common in modern business, but shouldn't happen when you have "science" in there. Lives a bad taste.

Science is all about clarity and SPECIFIC fields of study. Nobody does "science" in general.

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#95

Post by erikpukinskis »

batista wrote: post #94
geofft wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Chief scientist" is absolutely a real job. Why would you think it's not?

Because it's a non descriptive BS title / buzzword? Which is very common in modern business, but shouldn't happen when you have "science" in there. Lives a bad taste. Science is all about clarity and SPECIFIC fields of study. Nobody does "science" in general.

NASA has a Chief Scientist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Chief_Scientist

You say "Nobody does 'science' in general", but you are wrong. Many people work at organizations that have a broad range of scientific pursuits in a broad range of fields of study. The Chief Scientist's job is "ensuring that [the organization's] research programs are widely regarded as scientifically and technologically well founded and are appropriate for their intended applications".

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#96

Post by alwaysanswerd »

batista wrote: post #94
geofft wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Chief scientist" is absolutely a real job. Why would you think it's not?

Because it's a non descriptive BS title / buzzword? Which is very common in modern business, but shouldn't happen when you have "science" in there. Lives a bad taste. Science is all about clarity and SPECIFIC fields of study. Nobody does "science" in general.

Dude, Amgen and a ton of other biotech/pharma firms have "Chief Scientists" or "Chief Scientific Officers" on staff. Sure, they work in specific fields or specific departments, but that is absolutely a valid and commonly used title.

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#97

Post by wpietri »

DataJunkie wrote: post #83
wpietri wrote: post #4

A great example of how user testing is a necessary complement to click data.

People that work in "ad operations" usually do that work by performing A/B tests etc. To me, it is a very unglamorous step child to a data scientist.

In this context, i think A/B tests would generally be the opposite of user tests.

Typically with an A/B test you'll test something like clicks. With a user test you'll have people in to try it out to see things that you can't see in the data. In this case, I think you could look at an A/B test and say, "Ad clicks are up! Great!" But in the user test you might say, "Oh, these clicks are accidental, so although it makes more money in the short term, it will decrease the value of the click and the value of the property.

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#98

Post by zanab »

batista wrote: post #44
mattj wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's a very non-trivial chance the person who wrote this article knows much more about advertising than you think: http://www.hilarymason.com/about/

Really? Because nothing in that bio points to that. Actually the whole thing is unbelievably vague and opaque. And these kind of cutesy oneliner descriptions of one's skills make me cringe: "Simply: I make beautiful things with data". OK, she works as a "chief scientist" (that's not even a job, for us, old time folks, but anyway) at bitly (a URL shortening service, i.e as far away from a real business as you can get,…

Edward Tufte makes the exact same argument and has a book entitled 'Beautiful Data,' and NO ONE says that about him. Also, while I applaud your use of quotes as rhetorical device to discredit Hilary Mason and her job title, I respond better to well-reasoned arguments. May I encourage you to watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL3DWcBsPU4 Now imagine her saying, "Simply: I make beautiful things with data." Does that still read cutesy to you? I might also suggest perusing her GitHub code, but I wouldn't want to alarm you, what with all this newfangled technology and rapid motion.

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#99

Post by yen223 »

dredmorbius wrote: post #93
yen223 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a guy with tremors, the trackpoint is even worse than a touchpad.

What is your preferred pointing device, if any? Know a few folks who have to deal with Parkinsons, which a lot of computing devices don't accommodate particularly well.

Get a mouse, preferably one with more mass in it. Helps to dampen some of the shakiness.

My tremors are not that serious though, so I'm perfectly OK with a touchpad (I'm a huge fan of Apple's glass touchpad). With trackpoints, it's hard to get a good level of sensitivity.

Re: Hey Yahoo, You’re Optimizing the Wrong Thing

#100

Post by bootload »

cbsmith wrote: post #86
bootload wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"... She's a data geek ..." 'She' has a name, Hilary Mason or @hmason.

Perhaps someone felt that it inappropriate to call the author out by name, and didn't feel that referring to them by a completely appropriate gender pronoun was in any way offensive... because, you know, being a woman isn't some kind of insult. If it had read, "He's a data geek..." it would have only have been offensive because they got the gender wrong.

"... Perhaps someone felt that it inappropriate to call the author out by name, and didn't feel that referring to them by a completely appropriate gender pronoun was in any way offensive. ..."

I understand the line of reasoning, however the tone of the comments about the article are negative and not up to standard. [1] It is not a question of gender but how to discuss, acknowledge & discuss an authors work in a civil manner.

[1] cf https://twitter.com/hmason/status/248262821924720640

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