Data-driven musings
Note: I wrote this in 2015 when I was VP Technology at Observer and looking to hire our team's first full-time software engineer to help build Commercial Observer and other projects, since previously we had relied solely on agencies. Several of the links are dead, but I thought it would be good to archive this … Continue reading How to Hire a Software Engineer
This week I had the opportunity to discuss sustainability from a geospatial perspective with Nathan Eaton, Executive Director at NGIS in Australia. This session was recorded for the May 19, 2021 Spatial Data Science in CPG & Retail Summit hosted by CARTO, as part of their 2021 Spatial Data Science Conference. https://youtu.be/9TkQkZJa9ps This Spatial Data … Continue reading Geospatial Sustainability
This past week, I had another opportunity to do some public speaking (virtually) with my friends at Crux Informatics. This time we did a 1:1 video chat between me and Philip Brittan, Crux's CEO, about the partnership between his company and Google Cloud. Check out their blog post or watch the short video here! https://player.vimeo.com/video/513473964 … Continue reading Talking to the CEO of Crux About Google Cloud, Sustainability, and Getting Your Data Into the Cloud
Last month, I participated in a panel discussion at The Crux Summit: Fall 2020. It was a fun conversation, and the replay is available here if you provide your contact info. Don't worry, the folks at Crux are nice people and they won't abuse it. Here's the session info: Beyond Spreadsheets: The Evolution of Data … Continue reading Talking to People Virtually About Going Beyond Spreadsheets
Everyone takes a different path to Artificial Intelligence. Sure, there are some common approaches from academia, research, engineering, and the like. But AI is a weird field that has had massive transformations in its history, and I don't think I'm too unusual in that I've only started to really "do AI" professionally in the last … Continue reading My Path to AI
Last week, I spoke at the first virtual NYC Data Council Meetup about my favorite topic, Beyond Spreadsheets. It was fun! https://www.meetup.com/DataCouncil-AI-NYC-Data-Engineering-Science/events/270962202/ I summarized the gist of my talking points in this thread: https://twitter.com/sternb0t/status/1276940768175886336 I co-presented with Tim Paine from J.P. Morgan. Tim and I met a few months ago and were slated to present … Continue reading Talking to People Virtually About Notebooks
Perhaps it's all nostalgia, but I really love AppleScript. What is AppleScript? Or should I say, what was AppleScript? A quick search finds multiple stories and threads and discussions about its demise. But it's still there, as of today, May 16, 2020, in macOS Catalina (10.15.4). The venerable Script Editor application is still right there … Continue reading I Love AppleScript
It’s common in tech spheres to separate coders from business people. Coders are the software developers who create solutions using computer programming code. Business people then use these solutions to create and operate business processes. But this distinction is blurrier than you might think—and only growing less clear as more jobs require data-driven decision-making. Millions … Continue reading Beyond Spreadsheets
Yes, spreadsheets are code. With me? No? Let me explain. First, let's talk about my definition of coding. I think coding is the act of writing logical instructions in plain text that can be interpreted by software to do something useful. I take a pretty wide view, admittedly. But I don't think I'm too far … Continue reading Are Spreadsheets Code?
I recently gave a talk, Harnessing the Power of AI, at the PwC Designed to Disrupt conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was my first speaking event as a Googler, so that was both exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. I think I did well though! Some of the things I talked about: Quantum Supremacy Google … Continue reading Talking in Front of People About AI
