I've always liked Roman numerals.For those unfamiliar, I'll save you a few seconds of searching: this post is titled "2017" in Roman numerals.
So, this is my first "official" post of 2017, and as I was looking at my blog stats earlier, I noted with pleasure and amazement that I had acquired a reader in... MONGOLIA! It ranked up there in amazement with my first African reader!
Now, I hope no one is thinking that I'm some... I'm not sure- fill-in-the-blank person from North America. Quite the opposite- I'm a casual writer who has, over the course of a few short years, had the privilege to have his stuff read in ~50 countries around the globe. And a fair percentage- if not an outright majority- do not claim English as their native tongue. So to all of my readers, old and new, I wish you a Happy New Year, Thank You and WELCOME to my blog... my little corner of the internet!
For those completely new to this blog, it has more of a "unifying theme" rather than a plot, theme or storyline. I try to keep it a safe place- no vulgarity or situations requiring the reader to agree or disagree with any political, moral or religious opinion. It sounds a bit like milk toast, but honestly, this blog is nothing more than my attempt to tell a few stories, chronicle some events and just communicate what Life looks like through my eyes... and the unifying theme is the Secret Underground Lair (SUL).
I'll reveal what is surely a pretty poorly kept secret: the SUL is a room in the basement of a modest home in the NW suburbs of Chicago (GO CUBS!). Our home is also the location of the Dungeon. our physical fitness training area- currently overrun by clutter. The rest of the basement is not named, with the exception of the Pantry, which currently is home to some chicken stock, canned tomatoes and a few other edible sundries.
The SUL is an office area, walled off from the rest of the basement and accessible by a door which has a bell on a string (we have four cats- three have learned how to use the bell. The 4th doesn't care). During our waking hours, Mr. T and I conduct business here. We pretty much sit kitty corner and back to back of each other. Both of our areas of control are in a fair amount of disarray, although the office is starting to come together. I'm not one of those folks who makes New Year's Resolutions, but I'm thinking that this will be the year when we FINALLY get the office in shape. We've made a few small steps already, discarding a few things and doing some organizing.
On the negative side, we're 18 months (at least) behind on this project.
I've noticed that Life seems to be a project, and the SUL is a great microcosm of this concept. I've already replaced some older Cat 5e cabling which was throttling network performance- I have one more switch on the way which will take care of a few other issues. I also have two older PCs which I'm thinking of adding a second gigabit NIC (network interface card)- which would theoretically double available bandwidth and throughput to the PCs. That's a question for later.
The last paragraph is a good example of my unifying theme. I shoot for data, but as I'm a hands-on SOHO I.T. guy, you'll often seen see speeds and feeds here. I hope everyone reading this will continue, possibly looking at some of my previous posts, and hopefully returning for more!
Lastly, I'm hoping we can dye the elephant this week.
????????
A year or so ago, I bought a plush elephant from a local retailer. I eventually also purchased a bottle of yellow dye. Why? Hadoop, of course! The unifying theme of this blog really is DATA... well, it tries.
It's time to put this to bed. I've read lots of articles, posts and blogs that were difficult to read, simply because they were presented as the dreaded "walls of text". No fear here- I try to keep my paragraphs short. I hope you've enjoyed this overview/review- please come back again!
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
Showing posts with label Hadoop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hadoop. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Thursday, June 4, 2015
(Around) 2.5 years, or, my personal Interwebz v2.1
Around two and a half years ago, I posted my first blog- December 4th, 2012 (it's a pretty short post- even by my current blogging standards!). Even way back then (figuratively speaking) I strove to keep data in the mix as the unifying theme of this blog. And at the end of May, 2015, I'm still blogging about life in general with data as the underlying theme.
It's June of 2015 now, and I've been working on my Twitter account. I consider Twitter serious work primarily because it is an integral element of my online presence strategy- and two and a half years ago, I didn't even know what an online presence strategy was, let alone seeing the need for one. After all, Twitter is one of the places where this blogs posts, but more importantly, it's where I interact with the world of #bigdata and #IoT.
I'm a firm believer in cross-pollenization and shameless self-promotion when it comes to creating a larger presence on the internet, so here's an invitation: if you have an understanding of any of the following terms, have a personal or professional interest in them, or possibly have heard one or more of them before and would like to learn more about them... here's a sample of the topics I address on my (hochspeyer) account on twitter:
#bigdata, #notsobigdata, #smalldata, #microdata, #database, #analytics, #stats, #IoT (Internet of Things), #IoE (Internet of Everything), #M2M (machine to machine), #machinelearning and, of course, #hadoop and #python. I touch on a lot of related topics on that account, but if Big Data and the Internet of Things are topics which you are interested in, you may enjoy following.
My other twitter account (hochspeyer1) still has a tech focus, but has more of a personal touch, looking more at #maker and #programming topics, as well as life in general.
Whew!
The state of the state of my microdata projects: as of today (Jun 4, 2015), the SUL (Secret Underground Lair) is still theoretically experiencing remodeling; by this I mean that while all of the furniture and shelving are in their (probable) final positions, everything that came out and came from upstairs still is in need of homes. Forty-two. my database project, is currently on hold. The Lego database (currently an Excel 2007 workbook) is currently in a data entry phase, and will eventually be a part of Forty-two. Even the Raspberry Pi, Arduino and Python projects are all on hold pending the completion of the SUL upgrade/remodel. Lastly, I'm building my media library, one song at a time. I'm using Windows Media Player, which I suppose is extremely lazy, but the interface is familiar and it does pretty much all that I want, so for now it suffices.
That's all from the SUL for now. As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
It's June of 2015 now, and I've been working on my Twitter account. I consider Twitter serious work primarily because it is an integral element of my online presence strategy- and two and a half years ago, I didn't even know what an online presence strategy was, let alone seeing the need for one. After all, Twitter is one of the places where this blogs posts, but more importantly, it's where I interact with the world of #bigdata and #IoT.
I'm a firm believer in cross-pollenization and shameless self-promotion when it comes to creating a larger presence on the internet, so here's an invitation: if you have an understanding of any of the following terms, have a personal or professional interest in them, or possibly have heard one or more of them before and would like to learn more about them... here's a sample of the topics I address on my (hochspeyer) account on twitter:
#bigdata, #notsobigdata, #smalldata, #microdata, #database, #analytics, #stats, #IoT (Internet of Things), #IoE (Internet of Everything), #M2M (machine to machine), #machinelearning and, of course, #hadoop and #python. I touch on a lot of related topics on that account, but if Big Data and the Internet of Things are topics which you are interested in, you may enjoy following.
My other twitter account (hochspeyer1) still has a tech focus, but has more of a personal touch, looking more at #maker and #programming topics, as well as life in general.
Whew!
The state of the state of my microdata projects: as of today (Jun 4, 2015), the SUL (Secret Underground Lair) is still theoretically experiencing remodeling; by this I mean that while all of the furniture and shelving are in their (probable) final positions, everything that came out and came from upstairs still is in need of homes. Forty-two. my database project, is currently on hold. The Lego database (currently an Excel 2007 workbook) is currently in a data entry phase, and will eventually be a part of Forty-two. Even the Raspberry Pi, Arduino and Python projects are all on hold pending the completion of the SUL upgrade/remodel. Lastly, I'm building my media library, one song at a time. I'm using Windows Media Player, which I suppose is extremely lazy, but the interface is familiar and it does pretty much all that I want, so for now it suffices.
That's all from the SUL for now. As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Batch v2.0
I figured I'd go with a very "I.T.-sounding" title for a change, and quite honestly, anytime you throw out verbiage resembling "v2.0", it implies that this is the new and improved version of something, and it should be checked out. I'm glad you've stuck with me thus far, as I'm about to possibly let some of the wind out of your sails of enthusiasm: this is not about a new an improved app or some software product. It's not a Python library or a Hadoop project.
Actually, it's short for the decidedly unsexy sounding "Bachelorhood Revisited", which is more less where I find myself this morning. The short version of the story is this: Jennifer's Mom had an upcoming medical procedure which required at least a one day hospital stay, and then some assistance once she got home. As Jennifer was pretty much the only family member available for these tasks, she flew over and is spending pretty much all of May with her folks.
So this leaves me in an odd state of quasi-bachelorhood: on the one hand, I can come and go whenever, turn the lights on in the bedroom at all hours, and generally don't have to be to quiet when I come in. Those are the "pluses".
In the debit column, I have to take care of the bills, meter reading, garbage- pretty much everything household related that Jennifer normally does (of course, she helps out tremendously in a remote capacity). I do some of the cooking and food prep... not much, really, but much more that when she's here. I do the vast majority of the dishes, and all of the laundry. And I have to warm the bed up all on my own. This all happens before or after work and on what passes for a weekend.
In summary: this bachelor thing is for the birds. I can't wait for her to get back!
Data news: I've been watching the (free) Google analytics for my blog, and I'm at a loss for this month's performance, which is a personal best for me in terms of viewership: with a little over a third of the month elapsed, I've surpassed my previous record month by 9.2%. And there are over two weeks to go! Woo hoo!
Lego data news: The Lego spreadsheet continues to grow and evolve. I finished the count on the white 3001 elements (the basic, ubiquitous 2x4 Lego brick); next on the list are the red 3001 elements. The current grand total stands at 1792 pieces. I should note here that when you're holding some of those nifty molded ABS plastic toys in your hand, they are not parts or pieces or bricks... they are elements.
SUL news: The Secret Underground Lair officially has all of its furniture repositioned in the new and improved floorplan. There have been some unofficial murmurings, however, that one more move may be in the offing, although this would require disassembling my half of the office. The jury is still out on this... more news as it becomes available.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
Actually, it's short for the decidedly unsexy sounding "Bachelorhood Revisited", which is more less where I find myself this morning. The short version of the story is this: Jennifer's Mom had an upcoming medical procedure which required at least a one day hospital stay, and then some assistance once she got home. As Jennifer was pretty much the only family member available for these tasks, she flew over and is spending pretty much all of May with her folks.
So this leaves me in an odd state of quasi-bachelorhood: on the one hand, I can come and go whenever, turn the lights on in the bedroom at all hours, and generally don't have to be to quiet when I come in. Those are the "pluses".
In the debit column, I have to take care of the bills, meter reading, garbage- pretty much everything household related that Jennifer normally does (of course, she helps out tremendously in a remote capacity). I do some of the cooking and food prep... not much, really, but much more that when she's here. I do the vast majority of the dishes, and all of the laundry. And I have to warm the bed up all on my own. This all happens before or after work and on what passes for a weekend.
In summary: this bachelor thing is for the birds. I can't wait for her to get back!
Data news: I've been watching the (free) Google analytics for my blog, and I'm at a loss for this month's performance, which is a personal best for me in terms of viewership: with a little over a third of the month elapsed, I've surpassed my previous record month by 9.2%. And there are over two weeks to go! Woo hoo!
Lego data news: The Lego spreadsheet continues to grow and evolve. I finished the count on the white 3001 elements (the basic, ubiquitous 2x4 Lego brick); next on the list are the red 3001 elements. The current grand total stands at 1792 pieces. I should note here that when you're holding some of those nifty molded ABS plastic toys in your hand, they are not parts or pieces or bricks... they are elements.
SUL news: The Secret Underground Lair officially has all of its furniture repositioned in the new and improved floorplan. There have been some unofficial murmurings, however, that one more move may be in the offing, although this would require disassembling my half of the office. The jury is still out on this... more news as it becomes available.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Forty-Two, v7 (or so)
I've been spending a fair amount of time on Twitter (@CjoelHarrison) lately... so much, in fact, that other elements of my e-life have been suffering. Case in point: this blog. In January of 2015, while I was establishing my presence in the twittersphere, I did not post a single blog. Possibly even more tragic, my playing time on Rail Nation has suffered tremendously. And don't even get me started on my lack of quality Steam time... I'm not certain when the last time I played Sid Meier's Civilization V was.
In any event, here I am once more heralding the latest iteration of my pet database project, Forty-Two. This may indeed be Version Seven; then again, I've not kept track, so it could be any number greater than three. This iteration, though, is different from previous ones: it was not necessitated by a hardware crash or a software glitch. Rather, it is simply a fresh start with a few ideas to make a (relatively) large dataset more organized.
So, I suppose the logical question would be this: why would a home user with no database training want to even try to build an Access database in the first place?
I suppose I could just write it off as an Aspie thing- a project that goes on forever without a realistic chance of being completed (I'm not sure that's exactly an Aspie trait!) It could be that I haven't learned MySQL yet, or haven't even tried NoSQL, and let's not even bring Hadoop into the discussion!
The reality is a lot more pedestrian. And practical: I want to know what I don't know.
In plainer speech, I want to learn how to build a small relational database from the ground up. I want this database to be useful to my family. And, possibly the most important reason for building the database: should anything bad happen, I'd like to have it as a record for an insurance claim.
So there, that's what drives me to keep on trying to build Forty-Two, the database that answers the question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
The other side projects that have been taking up my time are coding. Professionally, I'm a programmer. The interesting thing about that is that even if I spent the majority of my time programming, the world would probably not recognize me as a programmer, because the tools that I use are very specialized and are more related to composition and layout than programming- and when we DO actually write some code, there is absolutely no way it con be confused with a Turing complete language. Still, some of these tools DO have actual programming, and to help myself to better understand these areas, I've taken to studying the Python language.
Gasp- it's official now: yours truly is studying Python.
print("That's all for now folks!")
In any event, here I am once more heralding the latest iteration of my pet database project, Forty-Two. This may indeed be Version Seven; then again, I've not kept track, so it could be any number greater than three. This iteration, though, is different from previous ones: it was not necessitated by a hardware crash or a software glitch. Rather, it is simply a fresh start with a few ideas to make a (relatively) large dataset more organized.
So, I suppose the logical question would be this: why would a home user with no database training want to even try to build an Access database in the first place?
I suppose I could just write it off as an Aspie thing- a project that goes on forever without a realistic chance of being completed (I'm not sure that's exactly an Aspie trait!) It could be that I haven't learned MySQL yet, or haven't even tried NoSQL, and let's not even bring Hadoop into the discussion!
The reality is a lot more pedestrian. And practical: I want to know what I don't know.
In plainer speech, I want to learn how to build a small relational database from the ground up. I want this database to be useful to my family. And, possibly the most important reason for building the database: should anything bad happen, I'd like to have it as a record for an insurance claim.
So there, that's what drives me to keep on trying to build Forty-Two, the database that answers the question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
The other side projects that have been taking up my time are coding. Professionally, I'm a programmer. The interesting thing about that is that even if I spent the majority of my time programming, the world would probably not recognize me as a programmer, because the tools that I use are very specialized and are more related to composition and layout than programming- and when we DO actually write some code, there is absolutely no way it con be confused with a Turing complete language. Still, some of these tools DO have actual programming, and to help myself to better understand these areas, I've taken to studying the Python language.
Gasp- it's official now: yours truly is studying Python.
print("That's all for now folks!")
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