Interrelativity: musings about interrelatedness
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Notes from #PyData Seattle 2015
I was among 900 attendees at the recent PyData Seattle 2015 conference, an event focused on the use of Python in data management, analysis and machine learning. Nearly all of the tutorials & talks I attended last weekend were very interesting and informative, and several were positively inspiring. I haven't been as excited to experiment with…
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There are no mistakes only lessons; a lesson is repeated until learned; tuition varies
One of my principal sources of wisdom is Cherie Carter Scott's book, If Life is a Game, These are the Rules, an elaboration of her Ten Rules for Being Human, which initially appeared (inadvertently unattributed) in Jack Canfield's book, Chicken Soup for the Soul. My two favorite life rules are: 3. There are no mistakes,…
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Conversations, Re-evaluations and Recombinations: A David Whyte Workshop on Difficult Harvests
I attended my first David Whyte workshop last month, held at the First Covenant Church in Seattle. The theme was The Harvest of Winter, exploring the challenges posed by difficult harvests and the opportunities they provide for asking beautiful questions: disturbing, provocative questions whose answers can unlock deep, hidden insights. These questions become increasingly important during…
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Doggone appreciation for our beloved Brittany, JoJo, 1998-2014
We euthenized our 16-year-old dog, Jojo, last week. A veterinarian came to our house and administered the injection while JoJo was resting in her favorite spot next to the couch, surrounded by her loving family. JoJo had gone deaf, was mostly blind, and had become increasingly incontinent, confused, unsettled and frail as the summer wore…
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Fathers, Children, Microevolution and Reinterpretation: A Personal & Generational Narrative
So many of the feelings I had about myself weren’t really mine, but feelings I learned to have to try and fit into his world. ~ Scott Berkun, Why Fathers and Children Don't Get Along Part of the story I make up about myself – and the feelings and judgments surrounding that story – is…
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Motivating and Visualizing Recursion in Python: Three Flavors
Yesterday, I encountered some great instructional posts on programming, Python and the IPython Notebook. How to more effectively teach the concept of recursion (by Gustavo Duarte) How to use the web-based PythonTutor to learn Python (by Philip Guo) How to embed an IPython Notebook inside a blog post (by Brian Granger) I thought it would…
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Python for Data Science: A Rapid On-Ramp Primer
In my last post, I was waxing poetic about an IPython Notebook demonstration that was one of my highlights from Strata 2014: "this one got me the most excited about getting home (or back to work) to practice what I learned" Well, I got back to work, and learned how to create an IPython Notebook. Specifically, I…
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IPython, Deep Learning & Doing Good: Some Highlights from Strata 2014
I attended my first Strata conference last week. The program offered a nice blend of strategic and technical insights and experiences regarding the design and use of "big data" systems. Atigeo was a sponsor, and I spent much of my time in our booth demonstrating and discussing our xPatterns big data analytics platform (about which…
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Hype, Hubs & Hadoop: Some Notes from Strata NY 2013 Keynotes
I didn't physically attend Strata NY + Hadoop World this year, but I did watch the keynotes from the conference. O'Reilly Media kindly makes videos of the keynotes and slides of all talks available very soon after they are given. Among the recurring themes were haranguing against the hype of big data, the increasing utilization…