009 - Streaming Algorithms for Line Simplification

Summary:

The paper began by explaining the context of the system. It gives examples of different distance functions, Hausdorff and Frechet, and how they're used. It explains how the technique used is for an infinite amount of string points and simplifying those points to a limited amount of space. Finding the least error point, it removes that point and connects the point before and the point after instead, thus increasing error the smallest amount possible of the new line. It discusses the creation of an error oracle and how it is used in the system.

Discussion:

Quite simply, this is the worst research paper I've ever read. It's not only INCREDIBLY cryptic, but it's also covering what I believe to be a useless topic. The paper gives an example of migrating birds. Points keep streaming in of where the birds are, and the system has to maintain a certain amount of accuracy with a limited amount of space, so it removes the least error point every time a new point comes in. However, it states in the paper that the writer's assume an INFINITE amount of points, which therefore makes the problem unsolvable. Assuming the birds continued migrating North and South, at infinite the graph would look like a bunch of jagged straight lines from the start to finish. Trying to solve this problem is NONSENSE. There should never be an infinite amount of points in a single set of data. For the given example, breaking up the migration into a yearly interval of sets would be completely plausible, or any such case for that matter. All you need to do is break the data into a managable amount, then this system might come in handy by throwing out the small changes and keeping the most data possible.