Sunday, October 13, 2013
All of Us - First Day
This is the beach right across the street from our house - this is all of us, except Ian who is taking the picture
Busy Day in Maui
Busy day today - we went down to Makena Beach, aka Turtle Town to snorkel - we didn't see any Sea Turtles but Ian and Sienna saw a black tipped reef shark. Pretty cool. Here are a couple pictures.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
My Apple Theory
The "Wall Street" pundits just piss me off. Today those pundits are complaining that Apple didn't make enough iPhone 5s's to meet sales demands over the weekend. This will, of course, cause Apple's stock to dive. The comment from USA Today "In particular, analysts were looking for signs that the more-expensive iPhone 5s sold out quickly — a possible sign that Apple had trouble making enough of the devices to meet initial demand." Now that's just ridiculous. If Apple hadn't sold out then the stock would dive because Apple didn't sell out so there must not be enough demand. It's a lose lose situation for Apple and the pundits. Whether Apple made 2 million or 20 million iPhones for this release they would be complaining about something. It seems that people hate a winner. Especially a winner that is from a liberal "march to your own drummer" kind of philosophy.
Let's look at a few things here - first, the iPhone 5s in gold sold out first. Why? Well, in a lot of countries gold is a symbol of prosperity and wealth. If you have something Gold then you are the cat's meow. I had someone tell me Thursday that if I could get the money and buy as many Gold iPhone 5s's possible then they could be sold in Arab countries for 3x the price. Did Apple make less of the Gold iPhone? Wouldn't that have been clever to make less of that model in order to drive demand? That's called smart marketing people.
But enough about the iPhone 5s & 5c. This latest Apple bashing spree started on the launch date of those two phones but the problem really began much before that. In my opinion it a chapter of it started on the launch of iOS 7 during the Apple Developers conference. I guess that's where I have my greatest complaint of Tim Cook (Apple CEO). iOS 7 is vital to the iPhone 5s and is part and parcel to it's innovativeness. One could argue that iOS 7 IS the iPhone 5s. Tim Cook et al should have kept iOS 7 under wraps and told developers about it on the sly then made a big deal about it during the iPhone 5s launch. I think this would have had more impact on technically challenged people who are wondering why the 5s is so innovative.
Let's look at a few things here - first, the iPhone 5s in gold sold out first. Why? Well, in a lot of countries gold is a symbol of prosperity and wealth. If you have something Gold then you are the cat's meow. I had someone tell me Thursday that if I could get the money and buy as many Gold iPhone 5s's possible then they could be sold in Arab countries for 3x the price. Did Apple make less of the Gold iPhone? Wouldn't that have been clever to make less of that model in order to drive demand? That's called smart marketing people.
But enough about the iPhone 5s & 5c. This latest Apple bashing spree started on the launch date of those two phones but the problem really began much before that. In my opinion it a chapter of it started on the launch of iOS 7 during the Apple Developers conference. I guess that's where I have my greatest complaint of Tim Cook (Apple CEO). iOS 7 is vital to the iPhone 5s and is part and parcel to it's innovativeness. One could argue that iOS 7 IS the iPhone 5s. Tim Cook et al should have kept iOS 7 under wraps and told developers about it on the sly then made a big deal about it during the iPhone 5s launch. I think this would have had more impact on technically challenged people who are wondering why the 5s is so innovative.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
2 Years Ago
Two years ago I was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer. One of the things that continues to haunt me to this day is my lack of sharing of this fact with my friends, close friends, co-workers, anyone frankly. I didn't want anyone to know. At the time, that was an important, very important fact. I forbade Dena to allow anyone in the hospital to visit me (except my mom), for the four or so days I was there.
When I look back on it now, hopefully with eyes a little more open, I realize that it was selfish. I didn't want my friends/family/co-workers to see me as weak, vulnerable, sad, in pain, sick or anything else. To allow people to see me post surgery or let them in pre-surgery was to admit that I had cancer, that it was serious, and that it was real. I didn't want it to be real. Who does?
Years and years ago, when I was in my twenties, I had two great people in my life die of horrible, painful cancer deaths. One, a friend, another a mentor and friend. Both refused to be seen in the hospital in their final days. I resented them for that. I resented them because I felt cheated of saying goodbye. One of them disappeared completely off the radar for months during the worst of it because she wanted to protect all of us from the horrors of it all. She was a tough, stoic sort, and I respect that toughness, but did she really need to bear all that pain and anguish alone? No, of course not, that's what friends and families are for. The other, a fellow from Austin Texas, an older guy, who was brilliant, I saw at City of Hope during late stage four and it was awful. It's an image I'll never forget. Do I regret it? No. Of course not. I was able to talk to him, joke, reminisce, hopefully provide him some comfort and joy, and say goodbye. With Sherry, the stoic one, I never got that opportunity.
I think that I have learned my lesson and that if, god forbid, I'm ever faced with such struggles again, that I have the strength to share it with my loved ones. The benefits for both parties far outweigh the negatives. We are humans and sharing in adversity is in our DNA and we must remember to embrace that. Nothing is gained by being "hard as a rock".
When I look back on it now, hopefully with eyes a little more open, I realize that it was selfish. I didn't want my friends/family/co-workers to see me as weak, vulnerable, sad, in pain, sick or anything else. To allow people to see me post surgery or let them in pre-surgery was to admit that I had cancer, that it was serious, and that it was real. I didn't want it to be real. Who does?
Years and years ago, when I was in my twenties, I had two great people in my life die of horrible, painful cancer deaths. One, a friend, another a mentor and friend. Both refused to be seen in the hospital in their final days. I resented them for that. I resented them because I felt cheated of saying goodbye. One of them disappeared completely off the radar for months during the worst of it because she wanted to protect all of us from the horrors of it all. She was a tough, stoic sort, and I respect that toughness, but did she really need to bear all that pain and anguish alone? No, of course not, that's what friends and families are for. The other, a fellow from Austin Texas, an older guy, who was brilliant, I saw at City of Hope during late stage four and it was awful. It's an image I'll never forget. Do I regret it? No. Of course not. I was able to talk to him, joke, reminisce, hopefully provide him some comfort and joy, and say goodbye. With Sherry, the stoic one, I never got that opportunity.
I think that I have learned my lesson and that if, god forbid, I'm ever faced with such struggles again, that I have the strength to share it with my loved ones. The benefits for both parties far outweigh the negatives. We are humans and sharing in adversity is in our DNA and we must remember to embrace that. Nothing is gained by being "hard as a rock".
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Rat Wars 2013 - Part 2
Now that I know the sons a' bitches are out there I couldn't give up. At first I was depressed for a few days because I felt I was going to lose. This weekend I got a new vigor for the war and went to OSH and bought a bunch of big rat snap traps. I admit, I've never used a snap trap before. I couldn't figure out how to even set the damn thing. I turned to You Tube to figure it out. This guy has a great video on how to bait a trap and what to use.
Basically, don't use peanut butter. They are smart little buggers and know to just lick off the peanut butter from afar. Also, you need to use rubber gloves, they will not come near anything that has human scent. Use bacon. Wrap the bacon around the bait stick with twine or steel wire so that they cannot pull it off. Good idea. I followed his advice to the letter. Make sure you bait where they run. For some reason the buggers are running on the side of my fence, not the top. So I put two traps on the top and one on the side. I screwed the traps into the fence so they couldn't just knock them off.
Set them at 5 o'clock and back from dinner at 9 o'clock and had success. Two down, G-d knows how many to go. I'm using Tomcat snap traps. Don't try those stupid black jaw like traps. Those don't work. You know the old adage, "build a better mouse trap"? That's BS. There is only one trap that has worked since the beginning. The old fashioned snap trap!
Basically, don't use peanut butter. They are smart little buggers and know to just lick off the peanut butter from afar. Also, you need to use rubber gloves, they will not come near anything that has human scent. Use bacon. Wrap the bacon around the bait stick with twine or steel wire so that they cannot pull it off. Good idea. I followed his advice to the letter. Make sure you bait where they run. For some reason the buggers are running on the side of my fence, not the top. So I put two traps on the top and one on the side. I screwed the traps into the fence so they couldn't just knock them off.
Set them at 5 o'clock and back from dinner at 9 o'clock and had success. Two down, G-d knows how many to go. I'm using Tomcat snap traps. Don't try those stupid black jaw like traps. Those don't work. You know the old adage, "build a better mouse trap"? That's BS. There is only one trap that has worked since the beginning. The old fashioned snap trap!
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Rat Wars 2013 - Part 1
Until now I didn't really realize what was eating my tomatoes. I feared it was rats but hoped it was squirrels. The other night, it was official, rats. Smaller ones. I thought mice but Dena said tree rats. There was one in one bush over by the house and 3 in my big Celebrity tomato plant. They scared me, Geppetto and I them. Sons of a bitches!
This sent my mind awhirl. How will I combat this threat? Cut worms are one thing. Rats quite another. Cut worms are not smart, nor are they big! I devised a plan to encase my Celebrity in small chicken wire with a cut out door so I could get the tomatoes out. But time was a factor. I had to go buy the chicken wire, fashion the entire encasement, etc etc. In the meantime I took to cutting my tomatoes off the celebrity before they were ripe, not green, just orange, before the sons a bitches got them.
Thursday night I was innocently picking Lemon Ice cherry tomatoes off, while picking I was stewing about the loss of celebrity big reds, some of these were 10 - 12 ounces. I glanced up and caught something out of the corner of my eye. Dark Grey? Dark grey rat butt? Seriously? Eating my lemon ice cherry tomatoes while I'm picking them???!!! I quietly put down my handfuls and snuck over to the garage and got one of Geppetto's weave poles. These are 1" PVC pipes about 3' long that are used to practice weaves for agility.
I walked over and whacked it. I heard a rustle, Geppetto went ape shit and I suspect the rat was dazed and scurried under the next pot over. That pot is a large 1/2 wine barrel made out of solid oak. I have these pots suspended up on top of bricks to aid in drainage, that's where the son 'a bitch was hiding. I poked and prodded and Geppetto whined and jumped (this is what he does when he "trees" something) and finally I decided to put my back into it and I moved it about a foot from the wall. Geppetto was able to get behind, I poked some more and a big commotion was heard from behind. Geppetto trotted out all proud like with the small rat in his mouth. I screeched and yelled "drop it"! He never obeys that command. He did this time. He dropped it and the rat crawled slowly away and he snagged it again. I yelled "drop it" again. Geppetto dropped it. As the rat crawled away again I thought to myself, "How in the hell am I going to kill this thing?"
I tried yelling for Dena but she didn't come. Geppetto had grabbed the rat again by now, I yelled drop, sit and Leave it. Which he obeyed. Amazing what training will do. He watched that rat patiently while sitting and while I ran and got a long pick up stick thing that my friend gave me. I grabbed the rat, still squirming a little, plopped it into a garbage bag and proceeded to whack it a bunch more times until it lived no more. I admit, I felt bad about it. But it was war.
Round 1 was over. Round 2 was imminent.
This sent my mind awhirl. How will I combat this threat? Cut worms are one thing. Rats quite another. Cut worms are not smart, nor are they big! I devised a plan to encase my Celebrity in small chicken wire with a cut out door so I could get the tomatoes out. But time was a factor. I had to go buy the chicken wire, fashion the entire encasement, etc etc. In the meantime I took to cutting my tomatoes off the celebrity before they were ripe, not green, just orange, before the sons a bitches got them.
Thursday night I was innocently picking Lemon Ice cherry tomatoes off, while picking I was stewing about the loss of celebrity big reds, some of these were 10 - 12 ounces. I glanced up and caught something out of the corner of my eye. Dark Grey? Dark grey rat butt? Seriously? Eating my lemon ice cherry tomatoes while I'm picking them???!!! I quietly put down my handfuls and snuck over to the garage and got one of Geppetto's weave poles. These are 1" PVC pipes about 3' long that are used to practice weaves for agility.
I walked over and whacked it. I heard a rustle, Geppetto went ape shit and I suspect the rat was dazed and scurried under the next pot over. That pot is a large 1/2 wine barrel made out of solid oak. I have these pots suspended up on top of bricks to aid in drainage, that's where the son 'a bitch was hiding. I poked and prodded and Geppetto whined and jumped (this is what he does when he "trees" something) and finally I decided to put my back into it and I moved it about a foot from the wall. Geppetto was able to get behind, I poked some more and a big commotion was heard from behind. Geppetto trotted out all proud like with the small rat in his mouth. I screeched and yelled "drop it"! He never obeys that command. He did this time. He dropped it and the rat crawled slowly away and he snagged it again. I yelled "drop it" again. Geppetto dropped it. As the rat crawled away again I thought to myself, "How in the hell am I going to kill this thing?"
I tried yelling for Dena but she didn't come. Geppetto had grabbed the rat again by now, I yelled drop, sit and Leave it. Which he obeyed. Amazing what training will do. He watched that rat patiently while sitting and while I ran and got a long pick up stick thing that my friend gave me. I grabbed the rat, still squirming a little, plopped it into a garbage bag and proceeded to whack it a bunch more times until it lived no more. I admit, I felt bad about it. But it was war.
Round 1 was over. Round 2 was imminent.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
iPhone 5 versus Samsung Galaxy S4 Head to Head
I've had the opportunity to test the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 head to head. My testing was for work and it was more from a 4G Sprint (Samsung S4) versus LTE AT&T (iPhone 5) perspective but since I was doing the exact same thing on each phone I couldn't help but compare them.
Samsung S4 impressions:
I'll take the iPhone 5 - hands down, every time
It's interesting how Americans love a winner but only if they win so much. For example, the Yankees. Everyone loved them until they started winning the World Series too frequently, then people hated them. Apple is a winner and were the darling of the tech sector for years. Now - every tech and money blogger bashes them for lack of innovation, too controlling, blah blah blah. Let's face it people - it's an American company. Embrace it. Why are you embracing a Japanese company? Apple employs 1000's of workers in the US. Support them - don't bash them.
Samsung S4 impressions:
- screen is bright, big and beautiful. I loved that about it
- It's too big. I cannot do anything one handed. When I put it up to my ear I feel like an idiot, like I have an ipad at my ear.
- its slippery. The silver sleek back makes it slippery so a case is necessary, however if I added a case it would be really too big.
- I felt that I had worse voice calls on the Samsung than on my iphone 4s on the Sprint network. In areas where I had not had issues before the Samsung had issues. Why? I don't know but it is what it is.
- The keyboard just sucks. On the iphone I can properly type out even with one hand a significant amount of text without it being morphed in to indiscernible words. The S4, no way. Some texts there wasn't a word that was recognizable so I found when I was texting or emailing I had to be paying significant attention to the phone and keyboard so I could choose the corrected words all the time. Irritating.
- I find the Google Play marketplace a pain to use.
- Android features in general do not have the same ease of use that similar functions on the iPhones do. Everything on an Android take too many clicks or the options are buried in menus below menus. It's just irritating.
- Lighter than my 4s so that was nice and lighter than the S4
- fits quite nicely in the palm of my hand
- fast
- usability crushes the Android OS
- say what you will about iTunes and the app store but I know when I download an app there isn't some malware hidden inside it because Apple has vetted every single app.
I'll take the iPhone 5 - hands down, every time
It's interesting how Americans love a winner but only if they win so much. For example, the Yankees. Everyone loved them until they started winning the World Series too frequently, then people hated them. Apple is a winner and were the darling of the tech sector for years. Now - every tech and money blogger bashes them for lack of innovation, too controlling, blah blah blah. Let's face it people - it's an American company. Embrace it. Why are you embracing a Japanese company? Apple employs 1000's of workers in the US. Support them - don't bash them.
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Geocaching in Edmonton, Part 3
This was our last find. It was by far the cleverest geocache I've ever seen. It was really only a fluke that we discovered it. The kids and my mom are determined cachers and do not give up until the find is made! Look closely at the picture below. Something is not quite right. The birch tree cluster you see there, one looks like its cut off. Upon closer inspection I thought it was odd that the birch bark was not adhered directly to the tree. Viola! The cache was found. Looking closer at the second picture you see a PVC screw top on it. This is a real birch log with one side somehow hollowed out, a 2.5" PVC pipe put into it, the original birch bark adhered to it and then its flipped upside down so you don't see the PVC cap. It wasn't until I grabbed the log and heard a thud inside of the cache container that I realized what it was.
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Monday, June 03, 2013
11 Varieties this year!
Here are some pictures of my special heirloom varieties. The top picture is the Costello Genovese - Hard to find old classic heirloom 8- 12 oz fruits. I'm not sure why the deep ribbing, it didn't say that it was like that nor do the pictures look like that. I have another that has deep ribbing, maybe I mixed up the labels? The bottom one is one of the ones I am SO excited about. The Lemon Drop - Translucent yellow/green cherries, sweet/tart flavor. Doesn't it look like they are going to be SO interesting.
Geocaching with the Family in Canada
What a fun, fun afternoon we had yesterday. I introduced my family and especially the kids to the world wide treasure hunt game called geocaching. Geocaching in Edmonton is very different than in Los Angeles. With the incredible amount of greenspace in the city every cache we found was an adventure and unique. The first cache we found was no more than a couple blocks from my sister's house but it might as well have been in the forest. The first picture is of that first cache. It was hidden in a fake birdhouse. I wonder if the birds get faked out too?
Each cache we found had a large number of kid friendly goodies in it and we left a Los Angeles souvenir in each as we went. Here's a picture of Sienna who is holding the GPS to cache #3 - as you can see, she is highly focused and was very good at it.
Cache #4 was a small micro and I was worried it would be hard to find. I let the kids run with the GPS while I used my geo senses to track it. I discovered it but let them make the find. It was a toughie but Sienna made the grab. As you can see by the picture it is a fake bolt. The trick is in looking for things that are not normal. None of the other 6x6 posts had a bolt in it - so, different...Clever hide for sure.
Each cache we found had a large number of kid friendly goodies in it and we left a Los Angeles souvenir in each as we went. Here's a picture of Sienna who is holding the GPS to cache #3 - as you can see, she is highly focused and was very good at it.
Cache #4 was a small micro and I was worried it would be hard to find. I let the kids run with the GPS while I used my geo senses to track it. I discovered it but let them make the find. It was a toughie but Sienna made the grab. As you can see by the picture it is a fake bolt. The trick is in looking for things that are not normal. None of the other 6x6 posts had a bolt in it - so, different...Clever hide for sure.
Saturday, June 01, 2013
Cucumbers - yummmy
This is just a normal cucumber plant. It's about 6" long now. I should have put a quarter in the dirt beside the picture for context.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
How is the Garden Doing?
Currently I am battling something akin to cut worms on every single tomato plant. They are making the leaves of all my plants look like swiss cheese. It's very frustrating. I tried some "organic" safe spray and they just ate right through that. I tried two applications. I tried searching for hours at night with the flashlight to catch them by hand, mistakenly thinking they would be as big as horn worms. They are not. This morning at 5:30am I resorted to Neem Oil. I sprayed under pretty much every leaf, meticulously. We shall see what happens. A gardening friend of mine reminded me that a healthy plant is better at fighting off disease and pests better than a weak plant and that if you are gardening in containers you must fertilize every 2 - 3 weeks. I had not done that, but I have now. Makes sense, just like the human body. Here's a picture of the current state of a few plants. As you can see the one under the window is almost 7' tall. That plant is the cherry tomato plant. Not sure if I should start pinching it or let it go crazy! The little thing to the left is the spinach. To the right in the horizontal container is the Michael Pollard variety of tomato. This is the first year it is in gardens so it's an heirloom. The leaves on the Michael Pollard are HUGE. Some of the longest leave branches are 18" long. How in the hell am I supposed to train that thing?
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Spring is Here - Tomato Time!
Spring has definitely sprung here in Los Angeles. Everything is bloom. The nurseries are buzzing and my green thumb is itching. I had the pleasure of going to Tomato Mania with a couple new friends last weekend and I wanted to share with you my experience and what I bought.
They have events all over Southern California this time of year. The event I went to was at the Tapia Brothers veggie stand in the Valley by the 101. We drove up and I immediately felt anxiety. It was Sunday, the event had been already going on since Saturday morning. Would they be sold out of everything? There were cars and people everywhere. I wanted to run to the tomato area and snatch up plants ASAP.
The pickings probably weren't as abundant as they were on Saturday but they were still good. There must have been over a hundred variety of tomatoes. Maybe more. Some of the special hybrids were picked over and there were no more yellow pears left but I had no trouble buying more than my backyard can hold.
Here's what I bought:
They have events all over Southern California this time of year. The event I went to was at the Tapia Brothers veggie stand in the Valley by the 101. We drove up and I immediately felt anxiety. It was Sunday, the event had been already going on since Saturday morning. Would they be sold out of everything? There were cars and people everywhere. I wanted to run to the tomato area and snatch up plants ASAP.
The pickings probably weren't as abundant as they were on Saturday but they were still good. There must have been over a hundred variety of tomatoes. Maybe more. Some of the special hybrids were picked over and there were no more yellow pears left but I had no trouble buying more than my backyard can hold.
Here's what I bought:
- Celebrity - classic beefsteak
- Cherokee Chocolate - rosy brown skin, smoky flavor
- Church "Beefsteak" heirloom - been around for 100's of years, from Virginia
- Sweet 100's - classic cherry with "100's" of cherries per vine
- Black cherry - just as it says
- Sun Gold - golden smaller fruit
- Lemon Drop - Translucent yellow/green cherries, sweet/tart flavor
- Michael Pollan - brand new hybrid, pear shaped yellow fruit with green stripes, fits in palm of hand
- Costello Genovese - Hard to find old classic heirloom 8- 12 oz fruits
- Carmello French Hybrid - italian, deep red large fruit, deeply ribbed
Monday, December 17, 2012
Girls in Tech Los Angeles STEM Workshop
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| Students & Girls in Tech LA volunteers - Valor Academy |
The morning started off with a motivational speech by Veronica Garcia who grew up in Arleta, and is now a rocket scientist with the space shuttle program at Pratt & Whitney. Veronica went to MIT after being encouraged by a speaker when she was in high school. Her story was compelling and revved all of us up for the day. We ran four workshops - technical product development that included an investor pitch, electrical engineering (hands on circuit design), bio engineering with some actual DNA (not human!), and environmental engineering which involved an oil spill clean up. I was in the Computer Science/Product development workshop where over the course of the day I was constantly amazed at innovation shown by these girls. The ideas they came up with were amazing and I'm sure I was looking at more than a few entrepreneurs there.
During our break for our yummy lunch that was donated by El Pollo Loco the volunteers had a chance to mingle and chat one on one with the girls. I'm not sure who was inspired more, the girls or the volunteers. I know I was inspired by Kim Vawter and Valor Academy's approach to motivating their students to attend college. More on that in another blog.
As we all look forward to 2013 - remember - there is nothing more satisfying than giving back. Join Girls in Tech today and get involved.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Community Builders Award
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| Me and Michelle @ Habitat for Humanity Build |
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| Mark Turner Senior VP presenting award |
Friday, November 30, 2012
Sexiest Job of this decade?
What is the sexiest job of this decade? It's called a Data Scientist. They are few and far between, often have PHD's in advanced mathematics and/or statistics and the thought of Petabytes of raw data turns them on. Currently, East and West coast major metropolitan areas (i.e. tech company areas), a data scientist is making between $300,000 and $500,000 per year. I bet you wish you would have paid more attention in that abstract calculus class now!
What is a data scientist you ask? They take Big Data in its rawest form and create connections, models, predictions - predictive analytics. Take for example the now infamous story where Target was using the habits of its shoppers to predict based on what was in a woman's shopping cart if she was pregnant or not. Often, even before she knew herself. Check out this article to see how and try not to freak out. The bottom line is that they assign everyone, yes, everyone a customer ID tied to your credit card and other data that you are providing. They are then mining that data to predict certain patterns one of them being pregnancy. It turns out that by tweaking the predicative formula they could time a women's due date to within a week. This allowed Target to send out coupons to the woman at specific pregnancy milestones to earn her business and loyalty. Coupons for prenatal vitamins, unscented lotion, cribs, diapers, you get the picture. If this is what can be done with a company not really knowing who you are imagine the data collected about you if you use a customer loyalty card.
If you're interested in learning more details about how a data scientist does this work check out the Forbes article.
Here are a couple buzz words to learn:
Hadoop architecture -- an open source architecture designed to map, crunch and qualify tons of data
Big Data -- is a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools
Data visualization -- is the graphical presentation of information, with the goal of providing the viewer with a qualitative understanding of the information contents Examples
Advanced Analytics -- is a grouping of analytic techniques used to predict future outcomes
What is a data scientist you ask? They take Big Data in its rawest form and create connections, models, predictions - predictive analytics. Take for example the now infamous story where Target was using the habits of its shoppers to predict based on what was in a woman's shopping cart if she was pregnant or not. Often, even before she knew herself. Check out this article to see how and try not to freak out. The bottom line is that they assign everyone, yes, everyone a customer ID tied to your credit card and other data that you are providing. They are then mining that data to predict certain patterns one of them being pregnancy. It turns out that by tweaking the predicative formula they could time a women's due date to within a week. This allowed Target to send out coupons to the woman at specific pregnancy milestones to earn her business and loyalty. Coupons for prenatal vitamins, unscented lotion, cribs, diapers, you get the picture. If this is what can be done with a company not really knowing who you are imagine the data collected about you if you use a customer loyalty card.
If you're interested in learning more details about how a data scientist does this work check out the Forbes article.
Here are a couple buzz words to learn:
Hadoop architecture -- an open source architecture designed to map, crunch and qualify tons of data
Big Data -- is a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools
Data visualization -- is the graphical presentation of information, with the goal of providing the viewer with a qualitative understanding of the information contents Examples
Advanced Analytics -- is a grouping of analytic techniques used to predict future outcomes
Monday, November 05, 2012
California Propositions 2012
This is my first big election as an American citizen and I'm taking it seriously. It is daunting being a California voter. We have 11 propositions to vote on that are California wide and then in Los Angeles county there are three Measures. This KQED website has a basic rundown of the propositions. Here is the basics of my research and while I'm trying to be fair, it is MY blog so there may be bias in these descriptions. The opinions are my own. Make your own decisions, you're adults.
Prop 30 - Tax increase for > $250k earners and what is interesting is that no one is talking about the .25 cent sales tax increase it also calls for, this is for 4 years. The money collected will benefit education and public safety. In my opinion adding .25 cents to state wide sales tax is too much. It taxes everyone. We have the highest sales tax in the country now, enough is enough. This would raise it to over 10% in some counties. Oh, and interestingly enough, there is a similar proposition, Prop 38. If both pass by state Constitution if proposition measures conflict the one with the most votes wins. You know that will end up in court. Sadly amusing.
Prop 31 - is confusing. In a nutshell it establishes a two year budget cycle and allows for more local monetary control. Its confusing. I have no idea how I'm going to vote. If you look at who is for and against the proposition its even more confusing. For example, both the democratic state party and the tea party are against it. Strange bedfellows.
Prop 32 - in listening to the ads this seemed a no brainer to me but after reading the proposition itself it is not so clear. Yes, unions cannot use payroll deducations for political purposes but it also exempts the "super-pacs" from anything. It seems unfair to me that unions can do nothing but super pacs can do anything they want if this prop passes.
Prop 33 - Allows insurance companies to give us discounts if we have continuous coverage for five years, BUT it also allows them to raise rates without the California insurance commissioners approval if we haven't had coverage. The proposition is funded entirely by Mercury insurance. I think that says it all.
Prop 34 - repeal the death penalty. It is retroactive. What you don't hear about is the fact that this proposition creates a general fund of $100 million for law enforcement to solve crimes quicker. So any savings in court costs goes right back out the door.
Prop 35 - Increases penalties for human trafficking. This seems a no brainer especially when you see the major opponent to the bill is the Erotic Providers Legal, Education and Research Project Inc.
Prop 36 - Revises the 3 strikes law so that if your third strike is stealing milk you don't go to jail for life. Seems logical to me. Basically, the punishment fits the crime. Violent crimes like murder, rape, child molestation are exempt, meaning its life in prison regardless.
Prop 37 - To label or not to label genetically engineered foods. It is amazing to me how misleading ads can be. If you read the measure it is not anywhere near the opponents ads. Read it and understand it before you vote. Seems clear to me.
Prop 38 - The second income tax proposition - increases taxes on most Californians from 2013 through 2024. Supposed to benefit education. You know and I know that they will forget they did this and raise our taxes somewhere in between 2013 and 2024 a few more times, right? The link at the top has the tax rate chart for each income class. Generally speaking its somewhere around 1% except if you make < $7,000 per year, then it's zero.
Prop 39 - This is a bit confusing - it changes the way taxes are levied on companies that do business in multiple states. In my 15 minute perusal its not clear to me whether this would be good or bad. This obviously increases taxes because, let's face it, they never go down; the revenue generated would go to clean energy jobs, training, etc., for five years.
Prop 40 - This one is just stupid. It was proposed by the Republicans to get old senate district boundaries put back in place and this proposition was posturing for a california supreme court bid. The court through out the request and the citizens commission that adjusted the district boundaries based on 2010 census figures stands. A Yes vote leaves districts as they were decided a couple years ago by the commission. A No vote means more $ will be spent in courts and for another panel to do the same bloody thing all over again.
Prop 30 - Tax increase for > $250k earners and what is interesting is that no one is talking about the .25 cent sales tax increase it also calls for, this is for 4 years. The money collected will benefit education and public safety. In my opinion adding .25 cents to state wide sales tax is too much. It taxes everyone. We have the highest sales tax in the country now, enough is enough. This would raise it to over 10% in some counties. Oh, and interestingly enough, there is a similar proposition, Prop 38. If both pass by state Constitution if proposition measures conflict the one with the most votes wins. You know that will end up in court. Sadly amusing.
Prop 31 - is confusing. In a nutshell it establishes a two year budget cycle and allows for more local monetary control. Its confusing. I have no idea how I'm going to vote. If you look at who is for and against the proposition its even more confusing. For example, both the democratic state party and the tea party are against it. Strange bedfellows.
Prop 32 - in listening to the ads this seemed a no brainer to me but after reading the proposition itself it is not so clear. Yes, unions cannot use payroll deducations for political purposes but it also exempts the "super-pacs" from anything. It seems unfair to me that unions can do nothing but super pacs can do anything they want if this prop passes.
Prop 33 - Allows insurance companies to give us discounts if we have continuous coverage for five years, BUT it also allows them to raise rates without the California insurance commissioners approval if we haven't had coverage. The proposition is funded entirely by Mercury insurance. I think that says it all.
Prop 34 - repeal the death penalty. It is retroactive. What you don't hear about is the fact that this proposition creates a general fund of $100 million for law enforcement to solve crimes quicker. So any savings in court costs goes right back out the door.
Prop 35 - Increases penalties for human trafficking. This seems a no brainer especially when you see the major opponent to the bill is the Erotic Providers Legal, Education and Research Project Inc.
Prop 36 - Revises the 3 strikes law so that if your third strike is stealing milk you don't go to jail for life. Seems logical to me. Basically, the punishment fits the crime. Violent crimes like murder, rape, child molestation are exempt, meaning its life in prison regardless.
Prop 37 - To label or not to label genetically engineered foods. It is amazing to me how misleading ads can be. If you read the measure it is not anywhere near the opponents ads. Read it and understand it before you vote. Seems clear to me.
Prop 38 - The second income tax proposition - increases taxes on most Californians from 2013 through 2024. Supposed to benefit education. You know and I know that they will forget they did this and raise our taxes somewhere in between 2013 and 2024 a few more times, right? The link at the top has the tax rate chart for each income class. Generally speaking its somewhere around 1% except if you make < $7,000 per year, then it's zero.
Prop 39 - This is a bit confusing - it changes the way taxes are levied on companies that do business in multiple states. In my 15 minute perusal its not clear to me whether this would be good or bad. This obviously increases taxes because, let's face it, they never go down; the revenue generated would go to clean energy jobs, training, etc., for five years.
Prop 40 - This one is just stupid. It was proposed by the Republicans to get old senate district boundaries put back in place and this proposition was posturing for a california supreme court bid. The court through out the request and the citizens commission that adjusted the district boundaries based on 2010 census figures stands. A Yes vote leaves districts as they were decided a couple years ago by the commission. A No vote means more $ will be spent in courts and for another panel to do the same bloody thing all over again.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Google sponsored Geek Girls Dinner
I had the pleasure through Girls in Tech Los Angeles to attend last week the first Geek Girls Dinner in the LA area. Geek Girls Dinner is a global movement getting us geeky gals together to network and be inspired by motivational awesome women in our fields. This first event in Los Angeles was no exception.
First of all, it was at Google's campus in Santa Monica. You truly are a geek if you get excited just walking up to Google's offices. As I signed in I could see the couches in the employee work area were in the iconic Blue/Red/Yellow/Green colors of Google's logo. I so wanted to go wander about their work area but alas, it was blocked by big burly security guards. No worries, the Google hosted bar stopped me in my tracks - with drinks like "Rover on Mars", "Solar Flare" and "Curiosity" calling my name I probably wouldn't have made it past the bar.
After mixing, networking, yummy appetizers and cocktails we all filed into the Google auditorium to be inspired by Nagin Cox of JPL/NASA and Maja Mataric, professor of Neurological Robotics from USC. Nagin Cox has been involved with the Mars Rover project from the beginning and is a fantastic engaging speaker. It was so fun to move with her through the evolution of NASA's exploration of Mars from the orbital satellites to the first Rover, Spirit and Opportunity and finally, Curiosity. She is an inspiration to us all and one picture in her slide show struck me as the epitome of exactly what we women face in this man's world - it was of Nagin Cox with her arms in the air in victory as Curriosity landed in the mission control room surrounded by men. Nagin - the lone woman. A victory in so many ways.
Maja Mataric's talk was very different from Nagin Cox's in that some of her points were how she balances between her children, her research, her classes, her grad students and the politics of being a tenured professor. Maja Mataric is plowing new ground in robotics and how these human size robots will be caregivers for stroke victims, physical therapy and all sorts of age related issues. I'm paraphrasing here but she drove home the point to us that you don't have to make a choice between work and family. Just make it work and do what is right for you. If you can't make a 9 am meeting with your boss because you need to take your kid to school, just say, "Hey, that doesn't work for me, I'll be there at 10" I'm sure that being a published, tenured brilliant robotasist who has spoken in front of congress gives you a lot of power to make those sort of statements without being fired - but the point remains.
The picture is of the yummy little 'droid cupcakes there were our post talk dessert.
What is the main take away from an event like this? There is no limit to what we can do as women!
First of all, it was at Google's campus in Santa Monica. You truly are a geek if you get excited just walking up to Google's offices. As I signed in I could see the couches in the employee work area were in the iconic Blue/Red/Yellow/Green colors of Google's logo. I so wanted to go wander about their work area but alas, it was blocked by big burly security guards. No worries, the Google hosted bar stopped me in my tracks - with drinks like "Rover on Mars", "Solar Flare" and "Curiosity" calling my name I probably wouldn't have made it past the bar.
After mixing, networking, yummy appetizers and cocktails we all filed into the Google auditorium to be inspired by Nagin Cox of JPL/NASA and Maja Mataric, professor of Neurological Robotics from USC. Nagin Cox has been involved with the Mars Rover project from the beginning and is a fantastic engaging speaker. It was so fun to move with her through the evolution of NASA's exploration of Mars from the orbital satellites to the first Rover, Spirit and Opportunity and finally, Curiosity. She is an inspiration to us all and one picture in her slide show struck me as the epitome of exactly what we women face in this man's world - it was of Nagin Cox with her arms in the air in victory as Curriosity landed in the mission control room surrounded by men. Nagin - the lone woman. A victory in so many ways.
Maja Mataric's talk was very different from Nagin Cox's in that some of her points were how she balances between her children, her research, her classes, her grad students and the politics of being a tenured professor. Maja Mataric is plowing new ground in robotics and how these human size robots will be caregivers for stroke victims, physical therapy and all sorts of age related issues. I'm paraphrasing here but she drove home the point to us that you don't have to make a choice between work and family. Just make it work and do what is right for you. If you can't make a 9 am meeting with your boss because you need to take your kid to school, just say, "Hey, that doesn't work for me, I'll be there at 10" I'm sure that being a published, tenured brilliant robotasist who has spoken in front of congress gives you a lot of power to make those sort of statements without being fired - but the point remains.
What is the main take away from an event like this? There is no limit to what we can do as women!
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