My name is Mason Porter. I am a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at UCLA. Previously I was Professor of Nonlinear and Complex Systems in the Mathematical Institute at University of Oxford. I was also a Tutorial Fellow of Somerville College.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Achievement Unlocked: Break Expedia's Shortest-Path Algorithm
No, Expedia, if I try to go between Ithaca and Newark with stops first to
Philadelphia and then to Boston, it is not ok to insist that I do
Ithaca->Newark->other city->Philadelphia when I try to go directly from
Ithaca to Philly.
Actually, there was additional shortest-path failing besides that (like
insisting that particular direct flights that exist for some searches don't exist for
others).
Expedia really needs to hire some graph theorists!
After several failed attempts and significant frustration, I basically went
and bought the tickets I wanted with Orbitz instead.
Anyway, this is what I get for trying to arrange an SFO -> Clarkson ->
Cornell -> Rutgers -> SFO trip, because all three of those colleges are in
the middle of bloody nowhere, except with slightly different nowheres. (That said, I am very excited about this academic trip. I will visit collaborators at Clarkson, I will be starting at a collaboration at Rutgers, and I will be visiting Cornell for the first time since I left when I graduated and will be giving a talk in the colloquium for the program from which I graduated. Awesome!)
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