Top 20 in 2020
It is not a roundup!
Hello beloved readers!
We are so glad to be writing to you in the new year - 2021. Last year was an eventful one, due to several obvious reasons and a few specific to our individual selves.
We will always remember it as the year of genesis for this idea called DataDuet :)
In this edition, we list down some of the innovative, mind-boggling, audacious, and interesting ideas that inspired us..actually compelled us, to start this newsletter.
Unlike our usual tech tales, enjoy this list of 20 uncategorized, random pieces of cool shizz in data, tech, and everything else!
It all started with HOWTO: Be more productive. We had to choose a good problem to spend our time on. Writing about our musings and vague ideas ticked the box.
This is one of those pieces that you like to read again and again! It addresses a significant question - How can you do your life’s best work?! It’s all about “You and Your Research”.
It is easy to start with a goal only to write about random ideas but difficult to maintain the randomness. As humans, our ability to start “reasoning” kills the spirit of staying true to our randomness. “Don’t see purpose where there isn’t. See Randomness”.
You’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you. And that’s okay. You have a good reason not to. But give this comic a try by The Oatmeal.
Have we arrived in the era of creativity? Is Creativity The New Productivity? What do you think? A data team can surely try to find a balance.
Can note-taking help make sense of the chaos faced in creative endeavors? We think so. Here’s a powerful note-taking mechanism - Zettelkasten - that we came across.
Talking about data folks, what are some of the bad coding practices you are guilty of? You don’t have to tell us, but you can post it on this Reddit thread. Think of it as a confession box of data scientists. :P
Hey, we are not here to dig out your past mistakes. We deeply respect all of you out there who are contributing to modern digital infrastructure or even maintaining the old ones. A hat tip to the open-source maintainers out there from DataDuet!
“It is not a bad description of the man to describe him as a tool-making animal.” - Charles Babbage. After all, our tools can potentially decide which ideas succeed. Sara Hooker emphasizes this point and introduces the term “Hardware Lottery” in an amazing piece of writing and insight.
Just like hardware, it is important to understand the ability of algorithms to scale with the size of the data. Otherwise big data will only mean small sampled data.
Big, small, all sizes and dimensions can be difficult for humans to exactly comprehend - “Universe in a Nutshell”. Go through the video’s description and get ready to be awed by the linked app. It helps you visualize objects in comparison to all discovered earthly and cosmic objects!
This is as good a time as any to talk about our place in the universe and what we’re doing with it. Track and reduce CO2 emissions from your computing
Forgive me but this list will be incomplete without a good data cleaning article. They are rare! So, you’re welcome. Let’s redefine data cleaning as “Building Reusable Transformations”.
Do you find the world of AI to be moving too fast?! Take a breather and read - TLDR version of the State Of AI report 2020.
AI in Nepal - An attempt to make really good AI education available to everyone by Sameer Maskey, even to the bottom of the pyramid.
Before we start democratizing AI, it is essential to learn about applied data ethics. This course is a must for all working in tech, and it’s free.
Want to see the real power of AI?! Use it to know your awful taste in music by this sophisticated algorithm.
Happy Data :)
One of the coolest data visualization of 2020. No, it is not related to Covid-19!
A physicist who could not mail this letter. I love my wife, my wife is dead.
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