When you work out, you probably have a routine set of exercises that you do. But if you read health-and-fitness websites or talk to a personal trainer, you know that for optimal fitness, you should vary your workout routine. Not only does adding variety to your fitness regime help you
So, how many different Pokémon have you caught - and more importantly, how many different kinds are still out there that you haven't caught yet? I've created some graphs that might help you figure it out! I think my previous blog post might have irritated some of the hardcore Pokémon players out there
Powered in equal parts by data, mobility and innovation, the collaborative economy has changed the way we think about automobiles, travel accommodations, office space, living space – and so much more. When anyone can open an app to borrow money from a crowd, order a gourmet dinner from a neighbor, or rent an
Ever wondered about the relationship between radio-frequency identification (RFID) and the Internet of Things (IoT)? Radio-Frequency Identification is one of the many types of sensors that are bringing the IoT to life. They’re fully compatible with the Internet of Things at the most basic level. RFID technology provides a way of locating a
We all find change easier when it starts with something we’re familiar with. That’s why I think sports analytics examples are popular – most of us are sports fans, so we get it more easily. It’s also why automotive examples that illustrate the potential reach of the Internet of Things
Under-utilized technology creates a drag on an organization. The ability to get more out of the tools you already use can increase the value of an existing investment, and that value grows as processes become more efficient and decisions are based on firmer foundations. Consider the facilities engineer at an
Are you caught up in the recent Pokémon Go craze? Or maybe just trying to figure out what all the fuss is about? In this blog post, I try to analyze all the important Pokémon-related data in one graph! When the original Pokémon game first came out around 1995, you needed
Today is #EmbraceYourGeekness day, and you are either reveling in this new crazy town inhabited by Pokémon GO, or you are hiding in your house trying to avoid all of the Pokémon GO zombies wandering around. But since I'm living in SAS these days -- not just the place (at
In my last post, I started to look at the use of Hadoop in general and the data lake concept in particular as part of a plan for modernizing the data environment. There are surely benefits to the data lake, especially when it's deployed using a low-cost, scalable hardware platform.
Reporting can reveal last year’s graduation rates or this semester’s completion rates at a local community college. But drilling further into that data to ask why students aren’t graduating or why they aren’t enrolling requires more complex analysis. At Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, college administrators and professors are
Smoothies are a great way to pack a ton of nutrition into a refreshing, on-the-go glass. However, many “healthy” smoothies in reality are loaded with carbohydrates and sugar from tons of fruit as well as juice, honey, agave or possibly even sherbet or sorbet! Of course these smoothies taste fantastic
Last week I showed how to represent a Markov transition matrix in the SAS/IML matrix language. I also showed how to use matrix multiplication to iterate a state vector, thereby producing a discrete-time forecast of the state of the Markov chain system. This article shows that the expected behavior of
Using the past to predict the future is a time-honoured practice. Of course it can backfire — which is why financial services firms are required to inform us that ‘past performance is not a guide to future performance’ — but customer behavior is often remarkably consistent. Which is why the
I've been working on a SAS program that can add content to the SAS Support Communities (more on that in a future post). Despite my 20+ years of SAS experience, there are a lot of SAS programming tricks that I don't know. Or that I use so infrequently that I
Utilities, like all large organizations, spend a lot of time and resources on strategy. But how do utility analytics leaders ensure that their efforts are connected to this high-level vision? On June 28th in Los Angeles, a small gathering of utility executives and analytics leaders met to discuss and explore
What information should you make easily available from the top page of your website? This Venn diagram might help you decide! Have you ever gone to a website to try to find some information, and had a (expletive) difficult time trying to find that info? I think there is often a
Do you have a need for real-time, streaming analytics? What technology are you considering? How are you going to enable rapid development and deployment of your analytical models all in real-time? SAS has partnered the the Hortonworks HDF team to develop a nifi processor that allows SAS machine learning models and
The fourth and final post in the series about a state government center of analytics concentrates on the big question – what value does analytics bring to business? (Links to previous entries are at the conclusion of this post.) While this “show me the money” question can be answered in
Modernization is a term used to describe the necessary evolution of information technologies that organizations rely on to remain competitive in today’s constantly changing business world. New technologies – many designed to better leverage big data – challenge existing data infrastructures and business models. This forces enterprises to modernize their approach to data
Two of my favorite string-manipulation functions in the SAS DATA step are the COUNTW function and the SCAN function. The COUNTW function counts the number of words in a long string of text. Here "word" means a substring that is delimited by special characters, such as a space character, a
Last week I posted an article on displaying polar graph using SAS. When the measured data (R, Theta) are in the polar coordinates as radius and angle, then this data can be easily transformed into the XY space using the simple transform shown below. x=r*cos(theta * PI / 180); y=r*sin(theta * PI
I've noticed fewer and fewer people smoking these days, and was wondering who the last holdouts are. Let's run some numbers and find out... Back in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s it seems like almost everyone smoked. You hardly ever saw the "cool kids" such as James Dean without a cigarette -
For the fourteenth year, the International Institute of Forecasters, in collaboration with SAS®, is proud to announce financial support for research on how to improve forecasting methods and business forecasting practice. The award for the 2016-2017 year will be two $5,000 grants, in Business Applications and Methodology. Criteria for the
Being able to communicate effectively is the most important of all life skills. Communication can make or break our world. It can build up healthy and productive relationships or break them forever. For example, how many times each one of us has experienced quarrels that are just a result of
Strengthens and stretches legs, knees and ankles. Stretches groins, spine, chest, lungs and shoulders. Stimulates abdominal organs and aids in digestion. Improves balance and increases stamina. Revolved Twist/Side Angle Pose (Sanskrit: Parivrtta Parsvakonasana) From High Lunge pose with left foot forward, place hands at heart center. Make sure the front
The online SAS Support Communities are a vibrant source of information and interaction for over 90,000 registered participants. Here you can ask (and answer) questions, grow (and share) your SAS expertise, and explore these collection points for other resources (like hot tips, articles, blogs, and events) relating to the community
Regardless of the industry and the company size, companies today have access to a huge amount of data. In order to convert this Big Data into useful insights, analytics strategies aligned with business objectives are required, supported by technology, commitment of the top management and a cultural shift that involves the entire organization. A
The Distributed SAS 9.4 LASR Analytic Server provides a massively parallel processing solution for working very quickly with huge volumes of data. LASR was built from its earliest invocations to provide for incredible scalability and growth. One of the primary criteria which drives the considerations of scalability is load management.
Absent a strong executive presence, most mature organizations will continue to muddle through data integration.
Many computations in elementary probability assume that the probability of an event is independent of previous trials. For example, if you toss a coin twice, the probability of observing "heads" on the second toss does not depend on the result of the first toss. However, there are situations in which
