Last week I wrote about the need for experimentation over models. Models are generally too abstract and far afield from reality that it’s hard to get any accurate answers. If you want to find out if an intervention works, try it. Do experiments on it. Carry out pilot projects and see what happens. Don’t model... Continue Reading →
The Brilliance of Malcolm Gladwell
I've been seeing a lot of Gladwell posts lately on the blogs I read, not least because he's come up with what seems to be a killer new book, David and Goliath. I'll be honest and admit I'm a Gladwell fan. Why? I'm not too sure myself. But there's a pretty interesting post (in the... Continue Reading →
Decision Making: The Need for Experimentation Over Models
Jim Manzi, in his book Uncontrolled, makes a very good point about analytical models and their shortcomings, in particular the need for experimentation (i.e. controlled interventions) to figure out what really happens in the real world (emphasis mine): Cost changes often could be predicted reliably through engineering studies. But when it came to predicting how... Continue Reading →
Big Data and Personality
Andrew McAfee posted about a very intriguing study on personality, gender and age in their relation to language. In essence, what the study did was to look at the correlation of people's Facebook statuses and their personality, gender, and age. You'll know why I say it's intriguing when you take a look at some of... Continue Reading →
The dismal failure of ‘Big Data’?
I just read an article on ZDnet on the dismal failure of 'Big Data' that was so bad I don't even know where to start. The author states that economics is a "big data" profession (why--what makes a profession "big data" or not?), and then goes on to say that because big data hasn't been... Continue Reading →
Some thoughts on the thinking behind building things
I’m going to write a bit about my thinking process whenever I build things, whether it’s websites, VBA applications, or financial models. I’m not too sure if this is going to be a “oh that’s so obvious why is he telling me this?” piece, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, one person’s normal behaviour... Continue Reading →
What Courage Is
Was on one of my regular runs today when the words "courage is not acting in the absence of fear, but in spite of it" suddenly came to mind and never left. Can't quite remember where exactly I read it or heard it, but those words have always comforted me in times of need. Here... Continue Reading →
Business vs. IT
I was reminded today in a book I'm reading on visual analytics that the purpose of any analytical project is ultimately to make better decisions. Coming from a mixed business and IT background, I have had my fair share of IT vs. Business conundrums. With my IT hat on, I'm always thinking about efficiency, optimisation, ease-of-use,... Continue Reading →
For the lack of a plan
I spent close to five hours working on an assignment that I thought would take me an hour at the most. It was an ad hoc project, and as often the case with many ad hoc projects you can’t really tell how long they’d take till they were done. My initial estimations were based off... Continue Reading →
There's a wonderful cartoon on running over at The Oatmeal. Beautiful as always, especially to this avid runner without a chance in hell of winning any running awards ("so why do it?" they ask -- not quite understanding that I run for running's sake. I just don't get it, either).
Donn, fragments 