Abstract: Methods, systems, and products adapt recommender systems with pairwise feedback. A pairwise question is posed to a user. A response is received that selects a preference for a pair of items in the pairwise question. A latent factor model is adapted to incorporate the response, and an item is recommended to the user based on the response.

Abstract: In an example embodiment, a supervised machine learning algorithm is used to train a communication reply score model based on an extracted first set of features and second set of features from social networking service member profiles and activity and usage information. When a plurality of member search results is to be displayed, for the member identified in each of the plurality of member search results, the member profile corresponding to the member is parsed to extract a third set of one or more features from the member profile, activity and usage information pertaining to actions taken by the members on the social networking service is parsed to extract a fourth set of one or more features, and the extracted third set of features and fourth set of features is inputted into the communication reply score model to generate a communication reply score, which is displayed visually to a searcher.

Abstract: Systems and methods for pairing electronic devices are provided. In an example embodiment, first motion capture data corresponding to a physical user motion is received from a first device. Second motion capture data corresponding to the physical user motion is received from a second device. Features are extracted from the first motion capture data and the second motion capture data. An association between the first device and the second device is determined based on a comparison of the extracted features. In response to identifying the association between the first and second device, a communicative coupling between the device and the second device is initiated.

Abstract: A first mobile device may be configured to facilitate context-aware, graph-based interactions. For example, the first mobile device receives a first communication from a second mobile device. The first communication includes a second member identifier of a second member of the social networking service. The second member identifier may be associated with the second mobile device. In response to the receiving of the first communication, the first mobile device may determine, based on the second member identifier, that the second member is one of a plurality of members of the social networking service. The first mobile device may facilitate the establishing of the wireless peer-to-peer connection with the second mobile device based on the determining that that the second member is one of the plurality of members of the social networking service.

Abstract: Systems and methods for pairing electronic devices are provided. In an example embodiment, gesture data resulting from a physical user gesture associated with a first device and a second device is received. Features are extracted from the gesture data. An association between the first device and the second device is identified based on the extracted features. A communicative coupling is initiated between the first device and the second device in response to identifying the association.

Abstract: A system, method, and apparatus are provided for determining an appropriate time to disrupt operation of a computer system, subsystem, or component, such as by shutting it down or taking it offline. Historical measurements of work accumulated on the component at different times are used to generate one or more forecasts regarding future amounts of work that will accumulate at different times. Accumulated work may include all job/tasks (or other executable objects) that have been initiated but not yet completed at the time the measurement is taken, and may be expressed in terms of execution time and/or component resources (e.g., cpu, memory). When a request is received to disrupt component operations, based on an urgency of the disruption a corresponding accumulated work threshold is chosen to represent the maximum amount of accumulated work that can be in process and still allow the disruption, and the disruption is scheduled accordingly.

Abstract: During a feedback technique, a system that provides a social network requests feedback regarding an initial connection strength associated with an edge between two nodes in the social graph, which are associated with an entity and a counterparty, respectively. Note that the social graph represents interactions among users of the social network. Based on the feedback, the system determines a directional asymmetry between revised connection strengths received from the entity and the counterparty. Then, the system performs a remedial action based on the determined directional asymmetry, such as adjusting the connection strength of the edge. In addition, the remedial action may include: feedback about an accuracy of the initial connection strength, estimating a power distance between the entity and the counterparty, and/or encouraging interaction between the entity and the counterparty.

Abstract: A method of maintaining a data store is disclosed. The data store is distributed across a plurality of storage provider instances, including a master storage provider instance and a plurality of additional storage provider instances. A master data log is updated to reflect a change to the data store. The master data log is synchronized with a plurality of replicas of the master data log. The change is propagated across the plurality of additional storage provider instances based on an analysis of the replicas.

Abstract: Techniques for enabling members to learn about and interact with their social network via games are described. According to various embodiments, it is determined that a content item or entity associated with an online social network service is relevant to a member of the online social network service. An online game including a game question and a correct game answer is generated based on the content item or entity. The game question is then displayed to the member, and a member response to the displayed game question is received. Thereafter, a game result is displayed, and the member is enabled to interact with the content item or entity.

Abstract: A device, system, and method may variously include or utilize a processor to cause a user device to display a content selection display area and a content display area. The content selection display area may include subject matter categories and icons, at least some of the icons being individually associated with at least one of the subject matter categories and at least some of the categories being associated with at least one of the plurality of icons. Each category is associated with at most a predetermined number of the plurality of icons. The content display area is configured to display content corresponding to at least one of the plurality of icons as selected in the content selection display area.

Abstract: In an example embodiment, for each of a plurality of possible presented actions corresponding to a particular flow of actions in a computer network, and for each of one or more possible performed actions for each possible presented action, a likelihood that a user will perform the possible performed action is determined. Then, a first presented action is identified by determining a presented action having a maximum determined likelihood, based on the determined likelihood, wherein the identifying a first presented action includes utilizing a machine learning model having one or more user covariates and one or more performed action covariates, and interactions between the one or more user covariates and the one or more performed action covariates, the user covariates including information specific to the user, the one or more performed action covariates including information specific to one or more of the possible performed actions.

Abstract: A system, apparatus, and methods are provided for automatically securing an electronic device. The device is paired with a security token (e.g., an access badge) associated with a user authorized to operate the device. During device operation, if the security token (e.g., which may be worn or carried by the user) is out of range or proximity with the device, after a threshold period of time some or all functionality of the device (e.g., other than communication with the security token) is locked. Multiple modes of operation may be possible, during which the device looks for the security token within different ranges (or signal strengths) and/or uses different time thresholds. The security token may need to be in proximity to the device in order to unlock it (e.g., with a user login sequence), and the device may or may not unlock automatically when the token is proximate to the device.

Abstract: In order to perform system-capability testing, an application in an application layer may provide predefined system capabilities and/or requirements of or associated with the application to a communication plugin in a data-link layer, such as availability of communication via a network and/or a latency of the network less than a predefined value. In response, the communication plugin may determine feedback information that specifies whether the predefined system capabilities are available and whether the predefined requirements are satisfied. Then, the communication plugin may provide the feedback information to the application. When the feedback information indicates that a system capability is unavailable, remedial action may be performed. For example, the remedial action may include updating a version of the application, updating a version of the communication plugin, and/or updating a path to a location in a network.

Abstract: Techniques for identification of a trigger-type leader in a social network are described. According to various embodiments, a specific content item posted by a particular actor of a plurality of actors and interactions by other actors of the plurality of actors with the specific content item are identified. A leadership score associated with the particular actor is then calculated, the leadership score indicating a propensity of the particular actor to stimulate discussion among actors of the online social network service. The particular actor is then classified as an information trigger among the plurality of actors of the online social network service, based on the calculated leadership score.

Abstract: A device, system, and method may variously include a network interface device communicatively coupled to a user interface and a processor, coupled to the network interface device, configured to cause the user interface to display a newsfeed including social network content items, the newsfeed being configured to scroll to display ones of the social network content items on the user interface. At least one of the content items includes a title and content. The content item is configurable in an expanded state corresponding to displaying all of the content of the content item upon a user selection and a contracted state corresponding to displaying a sub-portion of the content. The newsfeed is configured to display the content items in the contracted state upon the social network content item scrolling onto the user interface without respect to the content item being in an expanded state when previously displayed.

Abstract: Techniques for identifying and presenting member profiles similar to a source member profile are described. With some embodiments, a general recommendation engine is used to extract features from member profiles, and then store the extracted features, including any computed, derived or retrieved profile features, in an enhanced member profile. In real-time, the general recommendation engine processes client requests to identify member profiles similar to a source member profile by comparing select profile features stored in the enhanced member profile with corresponding profile features of the source member profile, where the comparison results in several similarity sub-scores that are then combined in accordance with directives set forth in a configuration file. Finally, the member profiles with the highest similarity scores corresponding with the user-selected member profile are selected, and in some instances, presented to a user.

Abstract: Techniques for generating and using service call graphs are provided. In one technique, trace data items generated by different services are correlated to generate a service call graph. Trace data indicates when certain services are called and their respective latencies as a result of a client request. A service call graph may reflect a single trace or multiple traces over a particular period of time. A service call graph may be analyzed to inform administrators of a web site how a web application and the services it relies on are performing. A service call graph may be used to determine whether there are sufficient resources to support a projected increase in traffic to a web application. A service call graph may be used to estimate a cost of a web application. Multiple service call graphs may be compared to determine one or more root causes of a performance problem.

Abstract: In various example embodiments, a system and method for generating and ranking service provider recommendations in a social network are presented. A request to identify a set of service providers that meet a specific criteria is received. The request can be associated with a member of a social network service. Member profiles from among a plurality of member profiles of the social network service are identified based on the specific criteria. A plurality of attributes is extracted from the identified member profiles. A trust factor for each identified member profile indicating the likelihood that the member would trust the service provider is determined based on the extracted profile attributes. The set of service providers is ranked based on the determined trust factor. At least a portion of the set of ranked service providers may be caused to be presented to the member.

Abstract: In order to build or aggregate lists of potential customers, contact information may be collected from viewers of a document, such as a presentation. In particular, multiple pages in a document associated with a user of a social network (such as slides in a presentation) may be presented to a second user of the social network. At one or more dynamically selected pages or locations in the document and/or a dynamically selected position or location on a page, the second user may be requested to provide their contact information and/or additional information. Moreover, the contact information needed from the second user may be dynamically determined.

Abstract: Systems and methods for the forming of user device groups are presented. In one example, logical relationship information describing logical relationships among a plurality of users is accessed. Potential membership of a first user in a first group of users is determined based on scores generated for each of a plurality of possible groups of users, the scores based on the logical relationship information. Then the first user is added to the first group of users. Content from an electronic device of the first user is received for broadcast to the first group of users. In response to the receiving of content, the scores for each of the plurality of possible groups of users are regenerated based on the content. Then the first user is added to or removed from a second group of users selected from the plurality of possible groups of users based on the regenerated scores.