October - 26 - 2014 ADD COMMENTS
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October - 12 - 2014 ADD COMMENTS
NSF Awards Million to Environmental Science Data Project
Many common species have experienced significant population declines within the last 40 years. Suggested causes include habitat loss and climate change, however to fully understand bird distribution relative to the environment, extensive data are needed.
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iWorm Hack Shows Macs Are Vulnerable Too
Bill Buchanan is Head, Centre for Distributed Computing, Networks and Security at Edinburgh Napier University. He does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and …
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Decline in PC Sales Starts to Slow; Largest Makers See Growth
“While others have been looking for a game plan that works, we have been executing ours and the results speak for themselves,” Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive of Lenovo, said in a statement distributed to the press. “We are confident our …
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September - 18 - 2014 ADD COMMENTS
Analytics is not just pure science; it is part art as well. Organizations that master the fine art of using analytical tools realize increased revenues and enjoy cost savings.
Last week we talked broadly about ANALYTICS. This week we dive into the “SCIENCE OF ANALYTICS.” The scientific approach involves the following four key steps:
1. Observe/define the business problem: Observation is either an activity consisting of receiving knowledge, or the recording of data using scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during this activity.
Analytics begins with observing the phenomenon and setting up the right business problem. It requires understanding the facts, to which you have ready access, and then drawing conclusions from it to identify the business problem which needs to be solved. For example, a manufacturing company is suffering from declining profits. By looking at their balance sheet we realize that revenues have declined while the costs have remained constant. Through these two facts, we can identify a simple business problem – the manufacturing company must reduce costs or increase revenue if it wants to have the same profitability as before.
2. Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an observable phenomenon. People refer to a trial solution to a problem as a hypothesis — often called an “educated guess” because it provides a suggested solution based on the evidence. Researchers may test and reject several hypotheses before solving the problem. Taking the above mentioned example of the manufacturing company, the business may have two sets of hypothesis:
a. Increase Revenue: Within increasing revenue, the firm might think of many different avenues:
Focus on Marketing – Increasing the marketing budget will enable us to increase sales and hence increase revenue.
Focus on Price – By reducing the price of our product we would be more competitive and hence increase sales, which might offset the decrease in sales/unit.
b. Reduce Costs: Within reducing cost bucket, the organization has various alternatives:
Operations cost – By reducing the operations budget (e.g. staff, electricity etc.), we will reduce costs.
Reduce Marketing budget – By reducing the marketing budget, we will save on costs.
As you can see, you can achieve increased profitability by both increasing and decreasing marketing budgets. There are several implications of each action beyond the primary implication and all need to be evaluated. The key element of the hypothesis-building phase is that you should have a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive set of hypothesis. This means we should think about all the possible sets of relevant hypothesis for the situation at hand and ensure they do not overlap and that together they are complete.
3. Test/Experimentation: An experiment is the step in the scientific method that arbitrates between competing models or hypotheses. Experimentation is also used to test existing theories or new hypotheses in order to support them or disprove them. An experiment or test can be carried out using the scientific method to answer a question or investigate a problem. First, an observation is made and then a question is asked, or a problem arises. Next, a hypothesis is formed and an experiment is used to test that hypothesis. The results are analyzed, a conclusion is drawn, sometimes a theory is formed, and results are communicated through business cases.
A good experiment usually tests a hypothesis. However, an experiment may also test a question or test previous results. The fundamental reason for following this process is to ensure the results and observations are repeatable and can be closely replicated given similar circumstances. Let’s continue with the example above and set up a test for the manufacturing company to learn whether increasing the marketing budget would affect revenue. In this case, we would set up a TEST where we run the EXISTING marketing programs and call it GROUP A while in GROUP B we run the increased marketing program. At the end of the observation time frame (assume 2-3 months), we would measure revenue for GROUP A and GROUP B and understand the differences. As long as the groups have a statistically significant size we should be able to repeat these results.
4. Learn: Learning is acquiring new knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, preferences or understanding, and may involve synthesizing different types of information.
Continuing our manufacturing company example, let’s assume that GROUP B performed far better than GROUP A. Let’s also assume that at the same time we increased marketing our competitors decreased it in the GROUP B target market. Now the question becomes, was the incremental benefit driven by our increased marketing or the fact that competitors reduced their marketing? Assimilating all possible and relevant information is extremely important in order to reach a good decision.
As you can tell, while scientists have been utilizing the above mentioned technique for a long time, businesses are just beginning to use it. This requires a strong commitment to the scientific process and a systematic approach to create a TEST & LEARN environment where you are constantly testing, learning and evolving to create increased bottom line benefits for a company.
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September - 6 - 2014 ADD COMMENTS
Data Science for Business: What you need to know about data mining and data-analytic thinking
Written by renowned data science experts Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett, Data Science for Business introduces the fundamental principles of data science, and walks you through the “data-analytic thinking” necessary for extracting useful knowledge and business value from the data you collect. This guide also helps you understand the many data-mining techniques in use today.Based on an MBA course Provost has taught at New York University over the past ten years, Data Science for Business provides
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Data Analytics
This book is a comprehensive introduction to the methods and algorithms and approaches of modern data analytics. It covers data preprocessing, visualization, correlation, regression, forecasting, classification, and clustering. It provides a sound mathematical basis, discusses advantages and drawbacks of different approaches, and enables the reader to design and implement data analytics solutions for real-world applications. The text is designed for undergraduate and graduate courses on data ana
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February - 1 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Introduction to High Performance Computing for Scientists and Engineers (Chapman & Hall/CRC Computational Science)
Written by high performance computing (HPC) experts, Introduction to High Performance Computing for Scientists and Engineers provides a solid introduction to current mainstream computer architecture, dominant parallel programming models, and useful optimization strategies for scientific HPC. From working in a scientific computing center, the authors gained a unique perspective on the requirements and attitudes of users as well as manufacturers of parallel computers. The text first introduces th
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November - 18 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Beauty and Joy of Computing
UC Berkeley Lecturer SOE Dan Garcia talks about distributed computing. Notes are available. This video was taped during our Fall 2010 AP CS : Principles Pilot semester.
October - 4 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Question by Anonymous: I have to take a course on Computer Science at another college before the fall but which course do I take?
Just to begin. I know absolutely nothing about programming but the same applied to my cousins who are 2nd/4th year computer science majors. So I’m thinking it’s worth a shot. I have to take a computer science course so I can have basic knowledge before I actually enter college. However, the college I will be attending in the fall is quite far so I have to take a intro comp sci course at a college closer to my home. Now I’m confused on which course to take.
The first one is called “Internet Computing w/ Distributed Computing”
Here’s the course description. “Fundamental concepts of Internet computing and component – based software engineering. Web application architecture. HTTP protocol. Presentations tier techniques: servlets and JavaServer Pages. Application server technique: Enterprise JavaBeans. Introduction to Web services for J2EE.”
The second one is called Windows System Programming
“This course provides an introductory overview of system programming in the Windows environment, mainly focusing on system-level programming based on OS services and other APIs. Topics include system calls, file I/O, files and directories, memory management, process control, inter-process communication (IPC), and socket-based network programming. Coursework includes programming assignments and a final exam.”
Which one should I take?
Thanks.
Best answer:
Answer by j s
take the one you like? simple as that, two different ones and you choose what one sounds more intressting to you
i would choose hte first one, internet computing
Add your own answer in the comments!
September - 28 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Beauty and Joy of Computing Professor Dan Garcia Link to lecture notes: inst.eecs.berkeley.edu
Video Rating: 5 / 5
August - 3 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Question by Anonymous: I have to take a course on Computer Science at another college before the fall but which course do I take?
Just to begin. I know absolutely nothing about programming but the same applied to my cousins who are 2nd/4th year computer science majors. So I’m thinking it’s worth a shot. I have to take a computer science course so I can have basic knowledge before I actually enter college. However, the college I will be attending in the fall is quite far so I have to take a intro comp sci course at a college closer to my home. Now I’m confused on which course to take.
The first one is called “Internet Computing w/ Distributed Computing”
Here’s the course description. “Fundamental concepts of Internet computing and component – based software engineering. Web application architecture. HTTP protocol. Presentations tier techniques: servlets and JavaServer Pages. Application server technique: Enterprise JavaBeans. Introduction to Web services for J2EE.”
The second one is called Windows System Programming
“This course provides an introductory overview of system programming in the Windows environment, mainly focusing on system-level programming based on OS services and other APIs. Topics include system calls, file I/O, files and directories, memory management, process control, inter-process communication (IPC), and socket-based network programming. Coursework includes programming assignments and a final exam.”
Which one should I take?
Thanks.
Best answer:
Answer by PE2008
First question is whether you really want to study Computer Science, or whether one of the following would be a better fit:
Computer Engineering
Software Engineering
Computer Engineering Technology
Software Engineering Technology
Information Technology/Systems
Looks like the two course you describe are closer to Information Technology.
You might get a head start on Computer Science by taking a course that lets you get good early at C/C+ programming. However, be aware Computer Science is very math-intensive, so you may want to take advanced math courses first.
If you’re headed for Computer Engineering, consider a course in Matlab.
If you take Computer Science, make sure the school’s degree is CAC/ABET-accredited.
What do you think? Answer below!
March - 29 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Beauty and Joy of Computing