Minor Features of a Couple of Algorithms

I'm just staring at the screen on my laptop, waiting for inspiration, for some important topic to pop into my head, so I can write something. I don't feel it today. I have nothing to offer up to the algorithms.

I was talking with some students the other day, nursing students who recently finished a program and either have taken or are soon to take the boards and try to get licensed. The NCLEX, the nursing boards used by most or all states in the U. S., uses an algorithm to choose questions as the students take the exam. I heard comments from students about that. Some, it seems, are randomly chosen to be given the maximum number of questions, while others may finish at the minimum. The workings of the algorithm are dark and mysterious. If a student gets notice of the test being done at 85 questions, is that good or terrible? Usually good, most think. But not with enough confidence to simply accept a passing score will be coming. Every student learns the tricks to get results as fast as possible. They have learned a way to game the system, at least a little, by going into the site to try to register again, to the point of giving a credit card number. If the number is rejected, it means the new test registration is unnecessary because the student already passed. That is what they say. I don't know. I want my students to succeed, but I think they can wait a couple of days to get results.

I saw an update on NetFlix last night. It had an information page I was supposed to read through and click that I had read and agreed with the policies. It had 55 screen pages. I read two. NetFlix recently raised their rates, and I considered cancelling the service, but didn't. Liz didn't mind the rate increase, which isn't all that high still,and we do watch NetFlix shows a lot. We even started a new series last night, though not all that new. Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell. Read the book some years ago. And I like British shows in general.

Now, having watched that, will the suggestions from the service adjust to include that new piece of information? I don't know. I don't know if I would notice. I did note that the service says it tracks how we use it, so the algorithms know which shows we watch, and what time we watch. Nothing surprising in that. Do the algorithms in NetFlix know what other streaming services we use, and what we watch on those? That would be more surprising. Maybe Facebook or Google knows our habits on all sources from the Internet. Much good may it do them.