If you’re like me (exactly maybe, as scary as that might be) and have a Motorola Droid, and use Clicky for awesome and simple web analytics – you’ll want this. Its only 1 dollar – which is the same as a double cheeseburger at McDonalds (if you local vendors participate – since we all know that “participation may vary”) if you want to make a dollar-for-dollar comparison… It uses the Clicky API to grab the unique visitors and actions from a given site that you are monitoring on a hourly basis (ie – it get refreshed hourly), and show the data...

A few months ago, I showed how you can do simple back and forth ETL task with python scripts – this time I’m going to take it one step further and show how with an extra python module we can actually export data to a usable Excel format as well. I often use this method for automated data extracts AS WELL AS doing full blown Excel reports (yes, that’s right – with formula calculations, formatting and everything – its pretty sweet – that’ll come later though). I always say that “ease of use” and “flexibility” are at opposite ends of...

I think that ‘data wrangling’ takes a special kind of problem solving mentality. Keeping data current, cleaning it, merging it, aggregating it, and creating summary (or data warehouse) tables for reporting purposes… For MANY years I used Express installations of SQL Server 2000 as my ultimate data Swiss Army knife. It was like a secret weapon. You can crank out a couple of databases, make a DTS package, add some SQL flavor, ODBC connections to whatever you need – and viola – have a working and update-able consolidated data source in no time flat. It never really mattered...

I tried to feed a goat a tin can once. He wouldn’t eat it. Cartoons have steered me wrong once again. Besides… the supervising Goat master scolded me before the Goat had a chance to fully understand the situation he was being out in. Maybe that particular Goat had diabetes and wasn’t allowed to eat my tuna can. I’ll never be sure. I generally don’t eat tin cans, but if I did, it would have been delicious, I can tell. I have to say, honestly, If there is anything better than a goat, its a goat that you can walk up to and pet on the back of the head. Actually, its a...

In the Data Transformation Services (DTS) / Extract Transform and Load (ETL) world these days we’ve got a LOT of expensive ass products. Some are good, some are marginal, and some are pieces of over-complicated (and poorly performing) java-based shit. But, hey, enough with the negativity – I digress, I just want to show you that its pretty easy to do the same types of data manipulations in pure easy-to-read python code. Why lock yourselves into an expensive proprietary ETL system that requires expensive consultants to maintain (badly)? In this multi-part post I’m going to start...

I saw a girl today crossing the street in front of me as I patiently sat at a red light. My first reaction was pretty neutral – I thought, “Eh, its just some cute, young college girl” – my city is full of them due to all the schools in the capital district, and they all seem to want to live in my area too. They’re like cockroaches with designer purses and huge sunglasses. (think Gossip Girl meets Cruel Intentions meets House Bunny) But then a funny thing happened – she must have seen something across the street, or thought of something disagreeable and suddenly...

Have you ever had an activity that you became totally lost in – where time either flashed by in an instant or seemed to stand still – your entire concentration was on that task at hand and the rest of the world just kind of faded away temporarily? Well, then you have experienced the “State of Flow“. Some people call it different weird things, such as “In The Zone” or “In The Moment” – but I think that “Flow” sums it up the best. It could be anything, it could be painting, photography, gardening, whatever it is that really makes your...

This is just a test of the FlipCam + uploading to YouTube + Posting in Wordpress. Don’t expect anything amazing.

You stay classy, Brock Lesnar! Before you think I’m just writing a rant (which it is), take a minute to think about how this relates in the marketing world. Its somewhere between an industrial accident and a PR stunt, depending on where the truth lies and who you believe. Either way, its creating a new branding message in the WRONG direction (in my opinion). Now I know this subject has been beaten to death since the fight on Saturday night (which I paid $45 to watch at home in lieu of ‘hitting the town’ for it and probably ended up SAVING myself money, but I digress). I’m...