Data

Book Review: “Weapons of Math Destruction. Read It!

April 14, 2017 Analysis

Cathy O’Neil’s Weapons of Math Destruction, How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy, is a terrific and important book.  O’Neil has the credentials and the cred. Her Ph.D. in mathematics is from Harvard and she subsequently taught at Barnard. She took her analytical skills to D. E. Shaw, a hedge fund and then to […]

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Jealous?

April 7, 2017 Analysis

Hey, data mavens: Jealous?

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Latest Medicaid Enrollment Data

January 12, 2017 Data

We’ve updated our visualized Medicaid enrollment data. These data run through May of 2016.

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Another Meaning for “Use the Damn Data”

April 7, 2015 Analysis

Ben Wellington, who runs the excellent I Quant New York  did a nice job here unpacking NYC taxi charge data and found that two different systems installed in taxis calculate driver tips differently.  And he estimates the more generous (?) system produces $5.2 million in tips above what the other system provides. Of course, riders have been […]

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Is Campaign Finance Data Unusually Dirty Data?

January 7, 2015 Campaign

Is Campaign Finance Data Unusually Dirty Data? At first glance, it sure seems that way. In an idle moment, just poking around looking at different data files, I decided to load some campaign finance data from New York’s Open Data site. Just go to the site, search on “elections,” pick a file and see what […]

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Greater (Data) Power Requires Greater Responsibility

December 8, 2014 Data

Edward Snowden is the Citizen Four for government misuse of data. Who’s Snowden for corporate use? The car ride company, Uber has a callous corporate culture. It’s not just annoying. It’s frightening. Read Tufekci and King in the New York Times: We Can’t Trust Uber. 

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Data Thought for the Day

October 16, 2014 Data

Since the Obama election, and particularly the re-election, politicians have gained a deepening appreciation of the use of data for politics – for tactics, targeting and personalization. It’s just a matter of time – and we can accelerate that time – before they have the same appreciation of using data for governing – including both […]

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Malaysia 370: How About Some Metadata?

March 24, 2014 Data

I groused a couple days ago about the mixed bag of “journalism” regarding the search for Malaysia Flight 370. In lieu of more speculation, the news coverage would be improved with more factual detail, e.g., more metadata. Here are a couple of examples data about the data that I would find useful: What are the […]

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To Better Understand, We Need Better News Coverage of Malaysia Flight 370

March 20, 2014 Analysis

A colleague and friend, knowing of my history flying large Air Force transports internationally, and who’s intensely curious about the fate of Malaysia Flight 370, has sent me a string of emails, most with the subject line: “does this make any sense?” My first response, and one which is still correct was this: “It is […]

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That’s my Girl!

November 5, 2013 Data

Halloween postscript. On her own initiative, granddaughter, age 9, surveyed her Halloween loot. Then she categorized it by size and counted the pieces (total 63). I’m so proud.

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