interesting recomendation from amazon

[jcsuperstar]

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who has purchased or rated Mindfulness With Breathing : A Manual for Serious Beginners by Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu or other books in the Buddhism > Theravada category, you might like to know that Horse-Breeding: Being the General Principles of Heredity Applied to the Business of Breeding Horses, With Instructions for the Management of Stallions, ... of Breeding Stock (Classic Reprint) is now available. You can order yours for just $8.72 by following the link below.

[Jechbi]

Jeez, don't the folks at Amazon realize that's Mahayana stuff? Duh.

[David N. Snyder]

Here's another miscalculation by Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1225555736/ ... n%3A297526

The current Theravada bestsellers list and it has James Dobson's book, Night Light: A Devotional for Couples at the number one position. The computer algorithms are apparently messed up for some cases.

[Ben]

Its interesting. The recommendation is probably based on a certain proportion of people who have bought the Buddhadassa book probably order the other one on horse breeding. And I'd appreciate it if no one told my wife about the horse breeding book!
Kind regards

Ben

[nomad]

Here's another miscalculation by Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1225555736/ ... n%3A297526

The current Theravada bestsellers list and it has James Dobson's book, Night Light: A Devotional for Couples at the number one position. The computer algorithms are apparently messed up for some cases.

Sometimes I think that the publishers have paid to have certain books show up on more search results and category listings than others. Or it could be part of a diabolical plot for Jimmy Dobson to try to convert the Buddhist heathens. *puts away tin-foil hat*

~nomad

[adamposey]

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

As someone who has purchased or rated Mindfulness With Breathing : A Manual for Serious Beginners by Ajahn Buddhadasa Bhikkhu or other books in the Buddhism > Theravada category, you might like to know that Horse-Breeding: Being the General Principles of Heredity Applied to the Business of Breeding Horses, With Instructions for the Management of Stallions, ... of Breeding Stock (Classic Reprint) is now available. You can order yours for just $8.72 by following the link below.

Amazon's algorithms are so complex as to be trade secrets. We do know that Amazon uses what's known as the "nearest neighbor" technique when attempting to produce reliable ideas for what you might like. For instance let's say you look at products x1, x2, and y1; Amazon will use its advanced algorithms to compare you to pretty much everyone else who has looked at or purchased those products, determine any similarities, and offer you a suggestion based on that. This is the same model used by netflix, coincidentally.

So.. normally really weird stuff like this occurs when the data is basically just screwy. Which is to say that a relatively small sample of people have viewed that product meaning that Amazon doesn't really have a statistically significant based with which to compare you to—hence, bad recommendation.

[appicchato]

And I'd appreciate it if no one told my wife about the horse breeding book!

For less than ten bucks Oz it's not going to break the bank (I hope)...or is it what she might do as a result of reading it?...

[fivebells]

When you consider the difficulty of what they're trying to do with that recommendation system, it's amazing that it works at all, though.

[Sanghamitta]

Can we expect a recommendation for a volume titled " Using Your Loaf, Or Mindfulness Of Breading " ?

[adamposey]

When you consider the difficulty of what they're trying to do with that recommendation system, it's amazing that it works at all, though.

As this particular episode demonstrates it very quickly falls apart unless it has thousands of people to compare you to. It, for the most part, even covers fringe items fairly well but I'm getting the purchasers of books on meditation are not normally heavy shoppers.

[jcsuperstar]

no, normally it gives pretty reasonable recomendations, this one though, waaay out there