Interesting items

Some technology related items I've read and favourited in Pocket recently.

• Following on from previous interesting items about Facebook's feed comes this article on YouTube's reccomendation algorithm which links to a Google research paper outlining how they use deep neural networks. Essentially the "algorithm" isn't a human readable set of instructions, it's a black box - it's probably only the weighting of inputs and output that's under human control.
• Top of the list of things, like social media algorithms, that political law makers continually fail to understand is encryption. If this is an issue that concerns you and you'd like to do something about it then get involved with Web Matters.
• There's a lot of really solid technical advice in this CSS Tricks article from Eric Bailey on building a better download button.
• Jim's advice on front end frameworks is a pragmatic approach to the "new front end every six months" cycle that can happen if you focus too much on the technology rather than the outcomes.
• As someone who is a very happy Float user this article on how they have used it internally to get their business to profitability was an interesting read on several levels.