Did you ever wonder how much fuel all the jets in the world use? Perhaps these graphs will help you get a handle on it... Before we get started, here's a jet-fuel related picture to entertain you. This is a picture I took from the airplane when I went to
Many simulation and resampling tasks use one of four sampling methods. When you draw a random sample from a population, you can sample with or without replacement. At the same time, all individuals in the population might have equal probability of being selected, or some individuals might be more likely
I was standing in the greeting card and seasonal gift aisle at my local grocery store recently surrounded by Valentine’s Day goodies. All the other shoppers standing in the aisle with me looked as perplexed as I felt. Should I throw in the towel, succumb to pressure, and get my
Back before storage became so affordable, cost was the primary factor in determining what data an IT department would store. As George Dyson (author and historian of technology) says, “Big data is what happened when the cost of storing information became less than the cost of making the decision to
North Carolina has over 300 miles of wide, flat Atlantic beaches as well as the highest mountain in the eastern United States, Mount Mitchell. The variety is impressive for a state that isn't even in the top half of the 50 states by size. One key reason is geometric: North Carolina
A recent survey by Capgemini found that 78% of insurance executive interviewed cited big data analytics as the disruptive force that will have the biggest impact on the insurance industry. That’s the good news. The bad news is that unfortunately traditional data management strategies do not scale to effectively govern
It's a Friday in February...that means it's time for another guest blog! This week's relationship series blog post comes from Gupta Psychiatry; providing insight and encouragement for those preparing to re-enter the dating world. Batter Up! Dating the Second Time Around A Collaborative Piece By: Dr. Mona Gupta, Amy Murray,
This is my first blog post, and the first of a long series around Data Governance. The first thing I want to discuss is the ability to Share DataFlux Data Quality profiling metrics in SAS Visual Analytics. This post will illustrate how to extract profiling data from the DataFlux repository
"The Role of Model Interpretability in Data Science" is a recent post on Medium.com by Carl Anderson, Director of Data Science at the fashion eyeware company Warby Parker. Anderson argues that data scientists should be willing to make small sacrifices in model quality in order to deliver a model that
Creating a strategy for the data in an organization is not a straightforward task. Not only does our business change – our software solutions also change before we can ever get done with a data strategy. So, I choose to understand that a strategy has a vision, and my vision may change
Last year at Mobile World Congress (MWC), we saw the reality of the IoT come to fruition. We saw leaders like AT&T showing their prototypes of connected cars, containers, agricultural sites, homes, etc. And it's got me wondering what we'll see at the 2016 MWC. In 2015, communications and media
This is the first of two articles looking at how to listen to what your customers are saying and act upon it – that is, how to understand the voice of the customer. Over the last few years, one of the big uses for SAS® Text Analytics has been to
I should have expected it! The end of January/beginning of February always seems to bring some kind of major snow event in the East. Here in Cary, NC we experienced only a couple of inches of snow, but that snow covered a solid inch of ice underneath. Several hundred miles
Infographics are all the rage today. Open any magazine or newspaper and we see data and numbers everywhere. Often, such information is displayed by adding some graphical information to add context to the data. A couple of good examples are Communicating numeric information, and Facts about Hot Dogs. Riley Benson, our UX
In my previous post, I discussed the characteristics of a strong data strategy, the first of which was that a formal, well-defined strategy exists within your organization. This post discusses how often (and why) your organization’s data strategy needs to be updated. While strategy encompasses and sets the overall direction for
You know when you visit Las Vegas you’ll have an experience you can only find in this one of a kind city. Where else can you gamble around the clock, get married in a drive-through, or see the Eiffel Tower without visiting Paris? So in the spirit of Vegas, SAS
A few years back I did a blog about my love for tofu, so I feel I am way past due for a blog on tempeh. Tempeh is like tofu’s hippy cousin- more fiber, and fermented. Tempeh doesn’t seem to get the same recognition that tofu does, which seems odd
How do you sample with replacement in SAS when the probability of choosing each observation varies? I was asked this question recently. The programmer thought he could use PROC SURVEYSELECT to generate the samples, but he wasn't sure which sampling technique he should use to sample with unequal probability. This
Did you know you could drive 74 million cars using the wasted natural gas that is flared from oil wells and refineries? Learn more details in this blog post! Flaring (burning) is commonly used to dispose of natural gas produced at oil and gas facilities that lack the infrastructure to capture it
In my two prior posts, I discussed the process of developing a business justification for a data strategy and for assessing an organization's level of maturity with key data management processes and operational procedures. The business justification phase can be used to speculate about the future state of data management required
As another year goes by, many people think about new year’s resolutions. It’s probably the third year in row that I’ve promised myself I’d start exercising in the fabulous SAS gym. Of course, I blame the recently concluded holiday season. With all the food-focused events, I couldn’t resist, ate way
Like most boys my age at that time, I wanted to be an astronaut. Fate, however, intervened, in the form of nearsightedness, so I had to find an alternative occupation. Coming to my rescue for the launch of Apollo 11 was my father, who presented me with a huge booklet that broke
Featuring a computer-savvy kid and Cold War intrigue, the 1980s movie War Games inspired more than one generation of STEM graduates. Sean Dyer is one Gen X’er who credits the movie for sending him on a path to where he is today as a cybersecurity data scientist. As the fog
Data virtualization simplifies increasingly complex data architectures Every few months, another vendor claims one environment will replace all others. We know better. What usually happens is an elongated state of coexistence between traditional technology and the newer, sometimes disruptive one. Eventually, one technology sinks into obsolescence, but it usually takes much longer than we expect. Think of
In SAS Visual Analytics 7.3, the usage reports accessed from the administrator includes a relationship report. This report provides very basic lineage and dependency information for selected object types. The data to populate this report comes from the middle-tier relationship service. Once you enable the collection and extraction of this
In the SAS/IML language, you can read data from a SAS data set into a set of vectors (each with their own name) or into a single matrix. Beginning programmers might wonder about the advantages of each approach. When should you read data into vectors? When should you read data
Super Bowl 50 (L?) is this Sunday, so it's time for another (American) football-related post. Steven Miller, a mathematics professor at Rutgers University, recently noted that the 2015 NFL schedule allowed a competitive advantage for some teams (including the Carolina Panthers). This figure he generated displays the 2015 regular season
Love includes a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the highest virtue to the simplest pleasure. An example of such a wide range of meanings is the fact that the love of a mother is different from the love of a spouse, which, in turn, is
As many as 2,000 new users are registering each month to partake of -- and contribute to -- collective SAS wisdom in the SAS Support Communities. If you’re beginning your journey to learn SAS, make a habit of stopping by SAS Communities Library to tap a growing treasure trove of fascinating
Here is the first in a series of guest blog posts you can expect to see every Friday throughout February as part of the Work/Life Relationship Series. Our first guest blogger is Laurie Watson, Director of Awakenings Center for Intimacy and Sexuality. Finding the Love You Need If you’re single
