He’s usually a lone warrior — Question: In John Wick’s climax sequence, he has Charon (Continental’s concierge) and other extras fight against the High Table’s guards. Why? Answer: Because the contrast highlights John Wick’s skills above the others. Welcome to Costs Matter, a series that asks different questions all of which have the same answer: to…

Doesn’t it collide with personal freedoms? — Question: Why are abortions a Republican Party issue? Answer: Because they win more when voters focus on moral rather than economic issues. Welcome to Costs Matter, a series that asks different questions all of which have the same answer: to better manage costs. The costs are usually economic though not…

And why did they sell it to Lenovo 3 years later? — Question: In 2011 Google acquired Motorola for $12.5 billion. They later sold the company to Lenovo for $2.9 billion. Why? Answer: Because Google wanted to protect Android from patent threats and Motorola’s 24,000+ patent portfolio gave them that. Welcome to Costs Matter, a series that asks different questions all of…

Are Indians inherently good at programming? — Question: Why does India have so many software engineers? Answer: Because since 1997 the Indian government has been adding engineering schools and colleges in the IT sector. Why? So the Indian governments revenues increase from the export of software. Welcome to Costs Matter, a series that asks different questions all…

Why not invest more and understand why the systems give their answer? — Question: Machine Learning systems are notoriously opaque. Often nobody knows why they gave the solution they did (for example, an ML system distinguished wolves from dogs based on snow in the background, not the animals themselves). Corporations developing them can create systems that explain themselves by expanding efforts. And yet…

Prolog and the z3 theorem prover are reliable ways to solve a logic puzzle — This post shows you two programmatic ways to solve logic puzzles, one using the Prolog programming language and the other using the z3 Theorem Prover. In an earlier post, written almost exactly one year ago today, I brute force solved a simple logic puzzle in Python. In it I also…

Why promote other brands? — Question: Why has Apple been spending millions on Google Ads for HBO Max? Answer: Because the revenue from ad conversions is greater than the cost of advertising. Welcome to Costs Matter, a series that asks different questions all of which have the same answer: to better manage costs. The costs…

All other children of wizards grew up in the wizarding world — Question: Why was Harry Potter raised by muggles? This constrasts with other wizard children. They all grew up in the wizarding world. Even if they weren’t in the wizarding world, they grew up aware of magic and sorcery. Answer: Because all of Harry Potter’s readers are muggles. J. K. …

Why the destruction? — Question: Amazon Warehouses often destroy unsold stock items. Sometimes millions of items are destroyed. Why? Answer: Because the cost of occupying an Amazon warehouse shelf exceeds the cost of keeping the item. Discarding the item is a cost savings. Welcome to Costs Matter, a series that asks different questions all…