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16 September 2011 5 Comments

MoneyBall (for Real): Business Intelligence, Data Mining, SQL Server, and Major League Baseball – Part 1

Let’s be honest – I’m a data guy. “Geek” to be more exact. But, I’m also a sports guy – and if there is ANY sport out there that prides itself as being massively data-centric… its Baseball. Data goes with baseball like Barry Bonds and… um, Home Runs (yeah, that’s it). Data collecting is an […]

4 August 2010 1 Comment

What Sookie Stackhouse can teach you about being a better blogger

TrueBlood. Killer show. Let’s face it. It really is a weird-ass perfect storm of timing, promotion, and just straight up quality storytelling. Don’t even dare to compare it with those Justin-Beiber-esque-Saved-by-the-Bell-type-Vampire-Twilight-Movies that are currently sweeping the minds and loins of young teens these days. They are an inferior product – vamprires (fictional or not) do […]

30 December 2009 4 Comments

Get Clicky Android Widget = Awesomely Convenient

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 […]

8 December 2009 5 Comments

Using XLWT and Python to export an Oracle dataset to Excel (Python Simple ETL Part 2)

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 […]

29 July 2009 20 Comments

Using a simple Python script for End-to-End Data Transformation and ETL (Part 1)

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 […]

15 July 2009 2 Comments

The State of Flow, Hidden Passions, and Drudgery

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 […]

13 July 2009 1 Comment

The UFC needs a Michael Jordan, not a Michael Vick

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 […]