Ryan Robitaille

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 […]

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 […]

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 put in. Maybe that particular Goat had diabetes and wasn’t allowed to eat […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]