https://hughewilliams.com/shortbio/2026-03-16T02:15:37+00:00weekly0.6https://hughewilliams.com/speaking/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/intheblack.jpgintheblackhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/sa7dc96be4125fi0002000077f126601.pngsa7dc96be4125fi0002000077f12660https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/sa7dc96be4125fi0002000077f12660.pngsa7dc96be4125fi0002000077f126602023-05-03T06:48:06+00:00weekly0.6https://hughewilliams.com/investing/2023-03-26T10:00:22+00:00weekly0.6https://hughewilliams.com/contact/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/hughemail.jpghughemail2023-03-26T09:46:13+00:00weekly0.6https://hughewilliams.com/publications-old/2021-02-17T05:34:55+00:00weekly0.6https://hughewilliams.com/publications/2021-02-17T05:26:49+00:00weekly0.6https://hughewilliams.com/2018/12/09/november-update-on-cs-in-schools/2018-12-09T23:16:40+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2018/10/22/cs-in-schools-september-update/2018-10-25T18:43:23+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2018/09/02/computing-in-schools-august-update/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/the-ros-learning-method-removing-background-robots-programming-ros-tutorials-768x512.pngcomputer2020-01-13T12:43:21+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2018/07/31/computing-in-schools/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/temp.pngtemp2018-08-02T13:17:47+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/disclaimer/2016-02-27T20:58:17+00:00weekly0.6https://hughewilliams.com/2015/02/11/guillain-barre-syndrome/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/4244669417_078270c117_o.jpgLate 2009Late in 2009, a few months after I was diagnosed with GBS. I'm out of shape, but on my way to recoveryhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/303312_10150982284925102_1892936827_n.jpegRunning a 5k raceA recent race. I'm back running, and ready to run 52 races in 2015 to fight GBS2020-09-16T14:44:28+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2014/11/11/a-whirlwind-tour-of-a-search-engine/2015-02-07T00:30:28+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2014/12/10/its-a-marathon-not-a-sprint/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1966321_313990785474109_1977531760847682083_o.jpg1966321_313990785474109_1977531760847682083_o2015-02-10T22:17:59+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2014/10/11/measuring-search-relevance/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/e7b71-decisions2.jpge7b71-decisions22014-10-11T18:22:54+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2014/09/26/fireside-chat-at-the-dataedge-conference/2014-10-23T19:33:06+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2014/03/17/armchair-guide-to-data-compression/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/datacompression.jpgcd disks in viseData compression. It's hard to find a decent picture!2014-04-18T15:05:31+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2014/02/13/dont-use-a-pie-chart/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/badpie.pngBadpieA pie chart that's nearly impossible to read. I'm not sure what conclusions you could draw from this one.https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2000px-piecharts-svg.png2000px-Piecharts.svgPie charts in action. 2014-05-28T10:19:01+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2014/01/14/learning-lessons-from-the-apollo-program/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/800px-soviet_union-1964-stamp-vladimir_mikhailovich_komarov.jpg800px-Soviet_Union-1964-stamp-Vladimir_Mikhailovich_KomarovVladimir Komarov, the cosmonaut who died in the ill-fated Soyuz 1https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/579px-apollo_10_lunar_module.jpg579px-Apollo_10_Lunar_ModuleThe Apollo 10 lunar module Snoopy returns from almost landing on the moon https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/599px-spider_in_earth_orbit_-_gpn-2000-001106.jpg599px-Spider_in_Earth_Orbit_-_GPN-2000-001106Testing the Apollo 9 lunar module Spider in earth orbithttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/600px-the_lunar_farside_-_gpn-2000-001127.jpg600px-The_Lunar_Farside_-_GPN-2000-001127The far side of the moon as seen from Apollo 8. The Apollo 8 crew was the first to ever see the dark side of the moonhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/765px-apollo_7_during_the_first_live_television_transmission_from_space.jpg765px-Apollo_7_during_the_first_live_television_transmission_from_spaceThe Apollo 7 crew during the first live broadcast from space2014-01-15T03:46:04+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/10/03/writing-a-book/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/lrg-1.jpglearning_mysql_comp.inddMy second book, Learning MySQL in its one-and-only edition.https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/lrg.jpglrgWeb Database Applications with PHP and MySQL. My first book in its second English edition.2014-06-24T03:29:08+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/09/11/delivering-a-tough-message/2013-11-06T06:09:54+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/07/22/writing-a-performance-review-part-one/2013-09-10T19:05:15+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/08/21/writing-a-performance-review-part-two/2013-08-22T05:25:21+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/08/14/five-tips-for-delivering-a-presentation/2013-09-05T12:06:45+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/05/20/changing-platforms-at-scale-lessons-from-ebay/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1f6ff03.jpgMark CargesMark Carges, eBay's Chief Technical Officerhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/33bb841.jpgSri ShivanandaSri Shivananda, eBay Marketplaces' VP of Platform and Intrastructure2017-02-17T16:34:48+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/07/08/the-cassini-search-engine/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/800px-cassini_saturn_orbit_insertion.jpg800px-Cassini_Saturn_Orbit_InsertionThe Cassini-Huygens probe, the namesake of our Cassini search engine.2022-08-05T16:47:32+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/06/24/the-size-and-scale-of-ebay-2013-edition/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sold.pngsoldeBay Marketplaces sold over US$75.3 billion in merchandise in 20122013-08-08T19:54:59+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/06/17/selling-on-ebay/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/search-at-ebay.pngsearch at ebaySearch at eBay. A tour of search from a recent webinar.2013-06-16T15:54:40+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2013/05/28/five-tips-for-writing-a-presentation/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/overview.pngoverviewAn overview slide. Usually the second slide in my presentations, and there to outline the structure of the talkhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/section.pngsectionA subsection slide that explains where we are in the talk structure. I'll typically include two or three of these in a longer talk, and they'll reference back to the overview slidehttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/questions.pngquestionsA final slide asking for questions (and doing a little advertising)https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/slide2.pngAn example title slideAn example title slide with talk title, my name, company and contact informationhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/slide1.pngA slide with the right amount of contentA slide with the right amount of content2013-06-01T20:40:36+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/03/24/compression-speed-search-engines/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/compression-22.pngcompression 2Search engine querying speed: compressed versus uncompressedhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/compression-21.pngcompression 2Processing time: compressed versus uncompressedhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/compression-2.pngcompression 2https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/compression-11.pngcompression 1https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/compression-1.pngcompression 1Index Size: Compressed vs. Uncompressedhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/inverted-index.pngInverted IndexA Simple Inverted Index2016-03-09T20:52:57+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/10/01/five-myths-about-hash-tables/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/hash-function.pnghash functionA very fast hash function written in C. This uses bit shifts, and a single modulo at the end of the function. If you find a faster one, would love to hear about it.https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/450px-hash_table_5_0_1_1_1_1_1_ll-svg.png450px-Hash_table_5_0_1_1_1_1_1_LL.svgA chained hash table, showing "John Smith" and "Sandra Dee" both in slot 152 of the hash table. You can see that they're chained together in a linked list. Taken from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_table2018-02-11T20:58:08+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/08/22/your-action-plan-using-feedback-to-drive-your-career/2012-08-23T00:39:26+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/08/06/knowing-your-customer-with-data/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/img_8762.jpgExplaining how to really know your customer with dataExplaining how to really know your customer with data at the 2012 eBay Data Conference2012-08-07T16:22:33+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/07/23/explaining-baseball-to-a-cricketer/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/3335302663_bfb11d6c17_b.jpeg3335302663_bfb11d6c17_bThe umpire (in black), catcher (in red), and batter (in blue) in close proximity. It's normal for the umpire to lean on the catcher.https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/3336130288_911c910ffa_b.jpeg3336130288_911c910ffa_bAustralia playing the Seattle Mariners in 2009 in Peoria, Arizona. Australia was warming up for the World Baseball Classic, and the Mariners had just begun their Spring Training for the long season ahead. Australia won 11-9. The first game for Ken Griffey Jr with the Mariners in his second, unsuccessful stint with the team.https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/holiday_pack_schedule.gifholiday_pack_scheduleSeattle Mariners 2012 schedule. 162 games, always 81 at home and 81 away.https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/07-21-12-lineup.jpeg07-21-12-lineupA lineup card that shows the batting order. These are exchanged between the teams before play -- just like in cricket.2016-06-12T10:47:34+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/06/26/the-size-scale-and-numbers-of-ebay-com/2012-07-18T16:21:58+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/06/19/how-are-you-doing-how-to-ask-for-feedback/2012-07-07T21:15:51+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/06/13/passwords/2012-07-07T21:20:05+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/06/05/6-secrets-for-successful-small-teams/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/sand-timers.jpgsand timersMy hour glass timers. A large one tracks meeting time (20 minutes), and the two smaller ones are for individual speakers (2 minutes each) -- one for the current speaker, and one for the next speaker.2018-12-27T02:24:54+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/05/25/popular-queries/2012-05-25T18:24:53+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/05/24/caching-in-search/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/query-graph-aol.pngquery graph aolQuery cache effectiveness for the AOL search query logs. The y-axis is percentage of the total volume of queries that's cached. The x-axis is the number of unique queries in the cache. Bottom line, storing over a million queries in the cache means you can serve over 60% of user queries from the cache.2012-05-25T11:42:31+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/05/15/ranking-at-ebay-part-3/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/yarn.pngSide by side results for the query yarn. On the left, an experiment, and on the right is the default experience.Side by side results for the query yarn. On the left, an experiment, and on the right is the default experience.2012-12-19T12:43:17+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/05/05/the-race-to-build-better-search-a-reuters-article/2012-05-06T04:00:01+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/04/28/ranking-at-ebay-part-2/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/polaroid-item.pngpolaroid itemA Polaroid Camera on eBay. Notice the title of the item, "NICE Older POLAROID 600 Land Camera SUN AUTO FOCUS 660"2012-09-18T19:33:24+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/04/19/ranking-at-ebay-part-1/2013-08-30T02:44:25+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/04/12/clicks-in-search/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/qu.pngquHeatmap of an eBay queryhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/click-stats-top-10.gifclick stats top 10Search click curve for the first 10 results in eBay search.https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ebay-click-curve-per-position.gifebay click curve per positioneBay Click Curve. The y-axis is number of clicks per result, and the x-axis is the result position.2012-04-13T19:56:22+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/04/02/snippets-the-unsung-heroes-of-web-search/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/four-snippets.pngfour snippetsCustom Google snippets for LinkedIn, Google Scholar, Google Play, and Fox Sportshttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/academic1.pngacademicCustom snippet for an academic publication from Googlehttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/academic.pngacademichttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/google-play.pnggoogle playCustom snippet for Google Play from Googlehttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/linkedin.pngCustom snippet for LinkedInCustom snippet for LinkedIn from Googlehttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/nordstrom1.pngNordstrom navigational query snippet from BingNordstrom navigational query snippet from Binghttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/custom-snippet.pngCustom snippet for a forum site from BingCustom snippet for a forum site from Binghttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/nordstrom.pngBing snippet for the query "nordstrom"Bing snippet for the query "nordstrom"https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/snippet-google.pngA Google SnippetA Google Snippethttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/excite.jpgThe excite.com homepage from the 1990sThe excite.com homepage from the 1990s2012-04-21T20:59:16+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/03/06/ideas-and-invention-and-the-story-of-bings-image-search/https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/msn-search-results2.jpgMSN Searchhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/msn-search-results1.jpgMSN Search's original image search with "infinite scroll"MSN Search's original image search with "infinite scroll"https://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/msn-search-results.jpgMSN Search Image Search. The first version with infinite scrollMSN Search Image Search. The first version with infinite scrollhttps://hughewilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/imagesearch.gifThe Live Search scratchpad. No longer in Bing's Image SearchThe Live Search scratchpad. No longer in Bing's Image Search2013-11-13T23:13:12+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/03/19/query-rewriting-in-search-engines/2013-01-03T20:13:45+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.com/2012/03/15/hiring-engineers/2014-06-24T16:37:22+00:00monthlyhttps://hughewilliams.comdaily1.02026-03-16T02:15:37+00:00