I've just came across a patent application filed by Flickr co-founders Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield, among others. It describes the logic behind the interestingness feature of Flickr, which is one of my favorite services rendered by the photo sharing web site.

I'm not familiar with the patent application procedure, I wonder what the outcome has been. It was filed about 3 years ago after all. It does talk about some common knowledge, by common knowledge I mean knowledge that researchers in data mining, collaborative filtering areas know about. Does that make it objectionable?

Overall, it is an interesting read to learn more about the behind the scene workings of my favorite photography web page.