Welcome
Welcome to my web site, my name is Dan Burfoot.
I have recently started a new job as a large-scale statistical analyst at Adnetik. Our goal is to provide smarter tools to allow online advertisers to get more value for their money by finding the best possible audience and placing their messages on the most relevant possible pages.
Before starting at Adnetik, I worked as a freelance software developer and wrote a book book about the philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence. A solid first draft of the book is now complete, and I am now looking for feedback from readers. If you have any interest in machine learning, computer vision, computational linguistics, or the philosophy and history of science, I would love to hear your opinions. I will even compensate you with free coffee and/or beer!
Over the last year or so my father (running guru Amby Burfoot) and I built an online training program called SmartCoachPlus. This web tool creates a training schedule, including workout distances and paces, that is customized for each user. If you want to run a marathon, but don't know how to train properly, then SmartCoachPlus is the tool for you! The application launched in early January 2011, and as of July 2011 has over 1,000 paid subscribers and 10,000 free uers. You can view it online by clicking here (requires free registration).
I am interested in small side projects that involve machine learning, data mining, computer vision, or natural language processing. If you have such a project, please get in touch! Here is my resume.
I obtained my PhD in March of 2010, in the field of machine learning, with a thesis entitled "Statistical Modeling as a Search for Randomness Deficiencies". I was a student at the University of Tokyo in the Intelligent Systems and Informatics lab, under the supervision of Prof Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Read more about my thesis.
While I was at the ISI Lab, I shared a lab space with this robot:
Before going to Japan in 2006, I obtained an MSc degree in computer science, at McGill University in beautiful Montreal, Quebec. My supervisors were Joelle Pineau and Greg Dudek. McGill is a great place, as can be seen in this picture:
