The Local Maximum

On the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, Max and Aaron have a 2 part discussion to combine personal recollections with some light historical research. This part covers the key differences between life and the news cycle in 2000-2001 and today along with personal experiences leading up to the morning of September 11th.

Ep. 188 - September 11th Recall Part I - The Before Time

Max Sklar starts off the Local Maximum podcast. He goes over the purpose of the podcast, and the push for 10 episodes. Aaron Bell interviews Max on Bayesian vs Frequentist Statistics. Mathematical reverends, German Enigma's, and Tampered Dice.

Ep. 0 - The great beginning, and how to Update Your Beliefs

In the rest of my discussion with Aaron, we discuss the how Bayes rule can apply to news items like the Hawaii ICBM Scare, the murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich, Medical Diagnosis, Conspiracy Theories, theology, and politics.

Ep. 1 - Bayesian Inference Applied to the Hawaii ICBM Scare

In my first interview, I speak to Google engineer Maryam Aly who worked on Foursquare's Internationalization Stack for several years. This includes making sure that the foursquare city guide and swarm apps work all around the world. Sometimes, a simple translation isn't enough - we had to deal with the quirks of each language, and puns and cultural references that don't carry through.

Local Maximum

Ep. 2 - Maryam Aly on Building a Global User Base: Translation, Localization, and I18n

I have a discussion with Stephanie Yang about how we used machine learning and sentiment analysis to build Foursquare's critically acclaimed venue rating system. Some anecdotes and what we learn along the way.

Ep. 3 - The Perfect 10, Foursquare's rating system

IN WAS NDE BESN OF NIZES IN WAS NDE WORSN OF NIZES IN WAS NDE ACE OF WISTOZ IN WAS NDE ACE OF FOOLISDGESS IN WAS NDE EPOUD OF BELIEF IN WAS NDE EPOUD OF IGURETMLINY IN WAS NDE SEASOG OF LICDN IN WAS NDE SEASOG OF TARQGESS IN WAS NDE SPRIGC OF DOPE IN WAS NDE WIGNER OF TESPAIR WE DAT EVERYNDIGC BEFORE MS WE DAT GONDIGC BEFORE MS WE WERE ALL COIGC TIREUN NO DEAVEG WE WERE ALL COIGC TIREUN NDE ONDER WAY (I'll explain!)

Ep. 4 - Codebreaking, Bizarro Harry Potter, and the Proper way to Gerrymander

Today I answer the question of how I would handle moderation for Facebook and Twitter - and I break down the problems that they're facing and why. Don't hold your breath expecting them to try out my proposal!

I also discuss Lindy's Law, which is a helpful rule of thumb in technological and social forecasting. As popularized by @nntaleb, it's another tool in your toolkit for understanding the world.

Ep. 9 - Fixing Facebook and Lindy's Law

Aren’t you getting tired of using an internet that’s built to waste YOUR time - I know I am!

Product Manager Marissa Chacko and I discuss the promise and perils of these bots and push notifications. We worked on Foursquare's bot Marsbot together, and produced it to help the user first. What are some ways we can focus on building apps that help users, and what are some of the bad habits that have gotten us apps which aren't looking out for our interests?

Ep. 12 - Virtual Friends & Enemies, Building Products that look out for us with Marissa Chacko

I look at the woe’s of social media and YouTube today, and discover that similar problems have occurred throughout history. Covering the rise of radio in the 1920’s and 1930’s including Fascist orators and federal intervention of radio in the 1930s, Cable News Fights, the FCC worried about explicit content in the 1990s and 2000s.

Finally, I compare the truly decentralized universe of podcasts - the podoverse - with the tech-giant run social media systems like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, and why their business models, and the complexity of running such systems have led to internet malaise while at the same time a golden age of podcasting commences.

localmaxradio.com/70

Ep. 70 - Centralizers vs Extremists and an Ode to the Podoverse

We hear from Tassos Noulas, faculty fellow at the NYU Center for Data Science about Urban Data Science and the related theory and projects. In the age of big data, scientists have found a better understanding of how cities develop, how to improve transport networks, and some ideas for future products that can be built around taxis and AR.

Topics include the Future Cities Challenge, Taxi price comparison apps, retail gravitation, central place theory, the relationship with fractal geometry, and wiki atlas.

localmaxradio.com/71

Ep. 71 - Science and The City: From Urban Theory to Mobile Apps with Tassos Noulas

Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency called Libra is supposed to aid international transactions. Does it compete with banks, or does it compete with Bitcoin? And what are the chances that Facebook and their 100-member consortium of companies will follow through on this over the next few years?

We then turn to the idea of voting power, and learn about one important metric when it comes to analyzing voting systems: The Shapely Power Index. We’re dive into how it’s computed, what it means, and what it’s limitations are.

Today’s co-host is Maryam Aly.

localmaxradio.com/72

Ep. 72 - Voting Power, Consortiums, and Facebook's Currency

Talk Python To Me host Michael Kennedy discusses a range of issues with Max, including Python's popularity as a programming language and what we can learn from that, hosting a podcast as part of a business, and how programming skills can fit well with other careers and in our education system.

Ep. 73 - Talking Python with Michael Kennedy

Max follows through on his promise to take down the big lie about Bitcoin - that it’ll consume all our energy and destroy the earth. He goes through the simple math that shows this won’t be a problem, and talk about how Bitcoin can encourage better energy technology.

Jack Ma and Elon Musk were recently in a debate/discussion about AI in Shanghai, and they are in such opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to their philosophical outlook! We talk about what they said, and where they agreed.

Finally, Max starts by responding to Gab CEO Andrew Torba, who threw shade at Foursquare in a recent blogpost.

localmaxradio.com/83

Ep. 83 - Bitcoin Energy Alarmists, Musk and Ma in Different AI Universes, and Gab picks a fight

Scottish Liberty Podcast

My Trip To New York, Automation, AI, Martin Ford Debate with Max Sklar

Rob Bernstein (@robbiethefire) - standup comedian and host of the Run Your Mouth podcast - joins the Local Maximum. The conversation with Max covers podcasting, comedy during the pandemic, his ongoing summer porch tour, New York City, and the presidential election.

Ep. 132 - Rob Bernstein on Podcasting, Politics, and Porch Tours

The internet is about to go into a massive phase shift over the next few years, and the arms race was kicked off in 2021 with the deplatforming of Parler and Donald Trump. In this solo show, Max talks about the development of the internet, the rise of decentralized services like Mastodon, and the rise of decentralized finance.

Ep. 153 - Decentralizing Before our Eyes

Join Max Sklar and guests in this podcast about AI, technology, and society. Email localmaxradio@gmail.com for questions and feedback.

Show notes page on the website: http://www.localmaxradio.com

Father of 2, aerospace engineer, occasional podcaster.

Ep. 9 - Fixing Facebook and Lindy's Law

The Local Maximum

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