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Kaggle and data prediction competitions

Competitions, where all things being equal, brings out the best results. Nine players on a baseball diamond work through nine innings against nine other players. Open bidding for contracts in response to a proposal to meet a business problem puts companies against each other for the best solution.

Kaggle is a competition market where players (yes, they call participants players) build the best predictive data model for a problem. In one case, individuals created a model to predict auto collisions nearly 3.5 times better than Allstate’s own models. An ongoing competition is seeking to predict health care admittances. That’s powerful stuff.

PJH Studios artwork, Portrait of a sun

PJH Studios

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  • Kaggle and data prediction competitions

    Competitions, where all things being equal, brings out the best results. Nine players on a baseball diamond work through nine innings against nine other players. Open bidding for contracts in response to a proposal to meet a business problem puts companies against each other for the best solution. Kaggle is a competition market where players…

  • It takes work to become awesome at kicking ass

    Over the past week, the theme of posts in my RSS feeds revolved around learning, careers and personal growth. Some ranged from calls to action–we need to rethink our entire education system for todays world. Others spoke of self reliance, be aware and do your best to kick butt. A few were introspective, realizations of…

  • Stasis promotes mediocrity

    When things remain the same, in a state of stasis, there’s no pull in any direction for worse or better. Yes. There are some things where you want the stability of stasis–your house’s foundation. But in a job, how many roles thrive on stasis, things inactive? Yes, harmony is good, but if inactive for too…

  • Looking for treetops or scouring for ground paths

    When lost in the woods, do you look for the sky amongst the treetops or do you scour the ground for worn paths? You’ll need both, to get a sense of direction and to get your footing as your orient yourself. Communicating’s the same way. You’ll need some higher level goals, supported by details to…

  • A concert on the diamond

    There’s something to the first baseball game attended for the season. A concert on a diamond field, underneath bright lights. Instrumental, a bat, ball and glove provide the rhythm to the crowds matching cadence. Tension rises with each fly ball. Drama arises as base runners stand closer to home. Each swing of the bat brings…

  • Bell Labs and innovation

    Bell Labs brought us into the future, making science fiction science fact. This is all due to forcing people to interact. ONE element of his approach was architectural. He personally helped design a building in Murray Hill, N.J., opened in 1941, where everyone would interact with one another. Some of the hallways in the building…

  • Review of Doxie Go scanner

    It seems too good to be true, a wireless, portable scanner that can send documents to your computer or iOS device. Perfect for one’s office within a Starbucks. Kind of. Measuring a foot long, two inches tall and about 3 inches deep, weighing in at less than a half a pound, the Doxie Go is…

  • Book review: The Passionate Photographer by Steve Simon

    Steve Simon’s book, [amazon_link id=”0321719891″ target=”_blank” ]The Passionate Photographer[/amazon_link], covers photography as more than a hobby.  Broken into 10 chapters, he goes from identifying one’s desire to take photographs to using that desire to share a vision. In between, basic technical issues are discussed related to gear, f-stops, shutter speed and ISO as well as…

  • Jimmy Fallon and Jeremy Lin

    “Bank this off the back booooooaarrrrd” I love this. Being a Pearl Jam fan, any reference to the band in pop culture is amusing. Jimmy Fallon takes the tune of Jeremy, changes the lyrics to reference Knicks star Jeremy Lin, complete with Eddie Vedder’s Jeremy video look and spooky lighting and does a good job.

  • Autoplay on the web is rage inducing

    Go to the grocery store. Grab your shopping cart, carefully choosing the one with four squeak less wheels. Liesurley browse for bananas, add the box of Cheerios, select the pepper jack cheese that’s on sale (bonus!). Now, browse to the frozen food section. Scan the frosty shel-. “HEY THERE SHOPPER. BUY SOME O’ THIS GOOD…