--
Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery community,
focusing on the latest research and applications.
Contributions are most welcome and should be emailed,
with a DESCRIPTIVE subject line (and a URL, when available) to (kdd@gte.com).
E-mail add/delete requests to (kdd-request@gte.com).
Nuggets frequency is approximately weekly.
Back issues of Nuggets, a catalog of S*i*ftware (data mining tools),
and a wealth of other information on Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery
is available at Knowledge Discovery Mine site, URL http://info.gte.com/~kdd.
-- Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro (moderator)
********************* Official disclaimer ***********************************
* All opinions expressed herein are those of the writers (or the moderator) *
* and not necessarily of their respective employers (or GTE Laboratories) *
*****************************************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quotable Quote ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.'
- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) Previous1NextTop
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Thu, Feb 1 1996
From: gps@gte.com
(Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro)
Subject: KDD-96 update
There are still (only ?) 45 days till KDD-96 paper submission deadline !
AAAI has informed me that printed and on-line registration materials will
be available in March.
KDD-96 co-chairs Han and Simoudis are reminding all potential authors
that an ASCII version of the cover page should be *EMAILED*
to kdd96@almaden.ibm.com
by March 18th 1995 (preferably earlier).
Previous2NextTop
>~~~Publications:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 96 09:33:53 -0600
From: Jeff Ullman (ullman@DB.Stanford.EDU)
To: dbworld@ricotta.cs.wisc.edu
Subject: (DBWORLD) Report on DB Research
Last May, an NSF-sponsored workshop met to consider the future of
DBMS research. A report, edited by Avi Silberschatz, Mike Stonebraker,
and me, with the help of all the workshop attendees, is now available.
You can find it at http://db.stanford.edu/pub/ullman/lagii.ps
---jdu Previous3NextTop
>~~~Siftware:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Colin Shearer (colin@isl.co.uk)
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 96 16:41:52 GMT
To: kdd@gte.com
Subject: Clementine V2 Release & Job Ad
RELEASE NOTIFICATION - CLEMENTINE VERSION 2
===========================================
ISL is pleased to announce that Version 2 of the Clementine Data Mining System
is now shipping. Key improvements/enhancements include:
* The C4.5 induction algorithm has been added.
* Kohonen nets are available for clustering, with induction used to
provide cluster descriptions/profiles.
* Regression modelling
* Back-propagation MLP neural nets now have :
A 'prune' training method, which removes redundant neurons.
Optional sensitivity analysis, to estimate the significance of
input fields.
Improved fine-tuning with 'expert' options.
* Trained nets and induced rules return a confidence figure (0-1) as well
as a result for symbolic outputs.
* A new visualisation module - the 'web' node - gives an interactive,
graphical display of the strength of links between symbolic values.
* For 'what-if' experiments, a 'user input' node allows the user to enter
individual test cases, or a specification for a data set which is then
automatically generated.
* Sequences of nodes in a diagram can be collapsed into a single 'supernode'
- these are the visual programming equivalent of procedures, and can be
parameterised and exported to libraries. This allows high-level reusable
modules to be built for specific application types and industry sectors.
* A 'balance' node allows skewed data to be corrected. Balance nodes can be
built manually, or generated from distribution and histogram displays.
* A 'matrix' node provides cross-tabulation, with overlay of numeric fields.
* The CLEM expression language has been extended in various areas. A very
useful addition is the ability to refer to 'global' values i.e. relating
to a whole dataset. (For example, @GLOBAL_AVE(Power)).
* More comprehensive record manipulation (sorting, aggregation, etc).
* Easier connections to data sources.
* Various facilities have been added to deal with missing/blank values.
For more information, please contact clementine@isl.co.uk
Previous4NextTop
>~~~Positions:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Colin Shearer (colin@isl.co.uk)
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 96 16:41:52 GMT
To: kdd@gte.com
Subject: Clementine V2 Release & Job Ad
VACANCIES - DATA MINING APPLICATIONS AND TOOL DEVELOPMENT
=========================================================
Integral Solutions Limited (ISL) is a leading supplier of advanced decision
support technology.
A key area of ISL's business is data mining. Our award-winning Clementine tool
combines multiple modelling techniques (neural networks, rule induction,
regression) with data visualisation and manipulation to extract high-value
decision making knowledge from large bodies of historical data. A rich visual
programming interface makes Clementine accessible to non-technologist 'data
owners' - business, rather than IT, experts - and provides high productivity
for 'power' users. Clementine is in use in a wide range of industry sectors
including finance, retail, pharmaceuticals, utilities, broadcasting, defence.
Applications are diverse and include demand prediction, customer profiling,
risk assessment, turnover forecasting, process optimisation, fault pre-emption
and fraud detection.
ISL's Data Mining Division is expanding, and we have an urgent need to recruit
top-quality staff. Our work is varied and includes ongoing Clementine
development, application of data mining to complex business problems, training
and consultancy, pre- and post-sales support, and long-term collaborative R&D
in areas such as exploitation of parallel architectures for mining very large
data sets.
Applicants should have a 2.1 or better at first degree; a relevant second
degree may be an advantage. Technical excellence is expected, but must be
combined with first rate communications and interpersonal skills and a desire
for close contact with customers. Recent graduates and those with commercial
experience will both be considered.
Candidates should have an interest in, and ideally experience of implementing
or using, advanced modelling techniques. Experience of some or all of the
following would also be useful:
Unix GUI Development
VMS Poplog
X Windows / Motif C
Windows 95 / NT Databases/ODBC
This is an opportunity to join a small (20+ people) but dynamic and rapidly
developing software house. ISL provides a stimulating and technically
challenging environment with considerable scope for professional development.
Please apply with CV to:
Linda Montgomery,
Integral Solutions Limited,
Berk House,
Basing View,
Basingstoke,
RG21 4RG
UK
Fax : +44 1256 63467
Email: lindam@isl.co.uk
URL : http://www.isl.co.uk Previous5NextTop
>~~~Meetings:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 96 13:55:12 EST
From: jwnek@aic.gmu.edu
(Janusz Wnek)
Subject: MSL'96 Workshop (Submission deadline-Feb 10, 1996)
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Third International Workshop on Multistrategy Learning (MSL'96)
May 23-25, 1996
Hilltop Inn, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Please note: Since MSL'96 is a small, limited-attendance workshop,
a paper submitted to an open conference, including ML, AAAI or KDD,
can also be submitted to MSL'96.
Each submitted paper will be evaluated independently, and accepted
for presentation solely on the basis of its merit for the workshop.
Previous6NextTop
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 18:39:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Eric Horvitz (horvitz@cs.washington.edu)
Subject: Summarized CFP
=========================================================
S E C O N D C A L L F O R P A P E R S (Summarized)
=========================================================
* Revised submission deadline
* New information on Full-Day UAI Tutorial
** U A I 96 **
THE TWELFTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON
UNCERTAINTY IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
August 1-3, 1996
Reed College
Portland, Oregon, USA
The scope of UAI covers a broad spectrum of approaches to automated
reasoning and decision making under uncertainty. Contributions to the
proceedings address topics that advance theoretical principles or
provide insights through empirical study of applications. Interests
include quantitative and qualitative approaches, and traditional as
well as alternative paradigms of uncertain reasoning. Innovative
applications of automated uncertain reasoning have spanned a broad
spectrum of tasks and domains, including systems that make autonomous
decisions and those designed to support human decision making through
interactive use.
We encourage submissions of papers for UAI-96 that report on advances
in the core areas of representation, inference, learning, and
knowledge acquisition, as well as on insights derived from building or
using applications of uncertain reasoning.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Important Dates (Note revisions)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> Submissions must be received by 5PM local time: March 1, 1996
>> Notification of acceptance on or before: April 19, 1996
>> Camera-ready copy due: May 15, 1996
* * *
UAI 96 will include a full-day tutorial program on uncertain reasoning
on the day before the main UAI 96 conference (Wednesday, July 31) at
Reed College. Details on the tutorials are available on the UAI 96
www homepage.
Finn Jensen
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Aalborg University
Fredrik Bajers Vej 7,E
DK-9220 Aalborg OE
Denmark
Phone: +45 98 15 85 22 (ext. 5024)
Fax: +45 98 15 81 29
Email: fvj@iesd.auc.dk
WWW: http://www.iesd.auc.dk/cgi-bin/photofinger?fvj
General Conference Chair (General conference inquiries):
========================
Steve Hanks
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, FR-35
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Tel: (206) 543 4784
Fax: (206) 543 2969
Email: hanks@cs.washington.edu
Program Committee
===================
Fahiem Bacchus (U Waterloo) * Salem Benferhat (U Paul Sabatier) * Mark
Boddy (Honeywell) * Piero Bonissone (GE) * Craig Boutilier (U Brit
Columbia) * Jack Breese (Microsoft) * Wray Buntine (Thinkbank) * Luis
M. de Campos * (U Granada) * Enrique Castillo (U Cantabria) * Eugene
Charniak (Brown) * Greg Cooper (U Pittsburgh) * Bruce D'Ambrosio
(Oregon State) * Paul Dagum (Stanford) * Adnan Darwiche (Rockwell) *
Tom Dean (Brown) * Denise Draper (Rockwell) * Marek Druzdzel (U
Pittsburgh) * Didier Dubois (Paul Sabatier) * Ward Edwards (USC) *
Kazuo Ezawa (ATT Labs) * Robert Fung (Prevision) * Linda van der Gaag
(Utrecht U) * Hector Geffner (Simon Bolivar) * Dan Geiger (Technion) *
Lluis Godo (Barcelona) * Robert Goldman (Honeywell) * Moises
Goldszmidt (Rockwell) * Adam Grove (NEC) * Peter Haddawy
(U Wisc-Milwaukee) * Petr Hajek (Czech Acad Sci) * Joseph Halpern (IBM)
* Steve Hanks (U Wash) * Othar Hansson (Berkeley) * Peter Hart (Ricoh)
* David Heckerman (Microsoft) * Max Henrion (Lumina) * Frank Jensen
(Hugin) * Michael Jordan (MIT) * Leslie Pack Kaelbling (Brown) * Keiji
Kanazawa (Microsoft) * Uffe Kjaerulff (U Aalborg) * Daphne Koller
(Stanford) * Paul Krause (Imp. Cancer Rsch Fund) * Rudolf Kruse (U
Braunschweig) * Henry Kyburg (U Rochester) * Jerome Lang (U Paul
Sabatier) * Kathryn Laskey (George Mason) * Paul Lehner (George Mason)
* John Lemmer (Rome Lab) * Tod Levitt (IET) * Ramon Lopez de Mantaras
(Spanish Sci. Rsch Council) * David Madigan (U Wash) * Eric Neufeld (U
Saskatchewan) * Ann Nicholson (Monash U) * Nir Friedman (Stanford) *
Judea Pearl (UCLA) * Mark Peot (Stanford) * Kim Leng Poh, (Natl U
Singapore) * David Poole (U Brit Columbia) * Henri Prade (U Paul
Sabatier) * Greg Provan (Inst. Learning Sys) * Enrique Ruspini (SRI) *
Romano Scozzafava (Dip. Mo. Met., Rome) * Ross Shachter (Stanford) *
Prakash Shenoy (U Kansas) * Philippe Smets (U Bruxelles) * David
Spiegelhalter (Cambridge U) * Peter Spirtes (CMU) * Milan Studeny
(Czech Acad Sci) * Sampath Srinivas (Microsoft) * Jaap Suermondt (HP
Labs) * Marco Valtorta (U S.Carolina) * Michael Wellman (U Michigan) *
Nic Wilson (Oxford Brookes U) * Y. Xiang (U Regina) * Hong Xu (U
Bruxelles) * John Yen (Texas A&M) * Lian Wen Zhang, (Hong Kong U) *
---------------
UAI-96 will occur right before KDD-96, AAAI-96, and the AAAI workshops,
and will be in close proximity to these meetings.
* * *
Refer to the UAI-96 WWW home page for late-breaking information:
KDD Nuggets Index