Founder of alike: a female geek who has graduated from Tsinghua University and specializes in large data

February 14, alike announced in the official website was Yahoo acquisition. The founder of Maria Zhang, Maria Zhang, once worked for Microsoft, graduated from Tsinghua University in 1997 and received a master's degree in computer science from the University of Michigan. Alike is a mobile app where users go to a favorite restaurant and alike recommend other places nearby. She and the entrepreneurial team use this approach to help others find places worth spending. The following is a GeekWire interview with Maria Zhang last year:

How is your product launched?

We are a group of geeks who are good at big data and like to shop. After spending time with big companies, we want to design some products that will help people spend more. Alike is the first product to be released, and can be based on users like to discover more locations. Just type in the place you like-a restaurant or a bowling alley--alike can help you find a similar place you like. Our goal is to make mobile search simpler and easier so that everyone can reap more fun.

Can you tell us the technology behind the product, and how to achieve it?

We've collected hundreds of terabytes of data, used complex algorithms to analyze these locations, and then compared different sites to each other. One of the advantages of this product is that it does not need to have a key 500 friends or 10 million users to play a role, download the alike people can be used as soon as you open it.

What are your future product plans?

The next step is to refine our databases and algorithms to try to cover all our daily consumer behavior. There are too many times when we are dissatisfied with what we buy, because it takes too little time to find out what to study. We want to make sure that you can do some homework before you buy a pair of shoes or a bottle of detergent next time.

What is it that you do?

I created and managed a company, and I designed the smart mobile experience in my own way. I am very excited about this, we are in a new era. Smartphones are widespread, data exploding, high-performance computing inexpensive and easy to access. This allows us to design super smart mobile applications and be driven by massive data.

What is the best thing people should know about your field?

Information is exploding, and the need for new ways to search and discover information is growing exponentially. Search used to refer to the selection of keywords, and the URL address than the right. Now more personalized analysis, involving all data entry, such as barcode scanning, photography, or just picking out what you already know. One day our smartphone will be able to provide the information we want without the need for us to take the initiative.

Where did you find inspiration?

Cooking can relax me and help me think about problems and decisions, such as how to deploy resources, what should be displayed, and how to ensure quality in time limits. Even if things do not go well, at least have a delicious peach Peach martini drink.

What technology product is you leave it cannot live, why?

Cooker。 It may be difficult to have a smartphone or other technology, but as a two-child mother, the rice cooker is too convenient.

Mac, Windows, or Linux?

Ubuntu Linux. Everybody knows that's the coolest thing.

What was the first computer?

Apple Ii.

What will be the most important technology in the 2015?

There's a technology I've been looking at for a long time, called Strong AI (fervent AI)--I'm talking about science fiction. Refers to the kind of program that can learn human behavior, to visualize and judge patterns in random interactions, without the need for human training. 2015 may be the beginning of a new robotic civilisation, and I am looking forward to the birth of a new machine master.