Saturday, August 30, 2014

IoT: Privacy's Shrinking Future

Privacy's Shrinking Future - HBR IdeaCast - Harvard Business Review:

Scott Berinato, senior editor at Harvard Business Review, on how companies benefit from transparency about customer data. For more, read “Pushing the Limits of Personalization” in the September 2014 issue of HBR.

define: Data science

Data science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Data science is the study of the generalizable extraction of knowledge from data,[1] yet the key word is science.[2] It incorporates varying elements and builds on techniques and theories from many fields, including signal processing, mathematics,probability models, machine learning, statistical learning, computer programming, data engineering, pattern recognition and learning, visualization, uncertainty modeling, data warehousing, and high performance computing with the goal of extracting meaning from data and creating data products.
...
A practitioner of data science is called a data scientist. Data scientists solve complex data problems by employing deep expertise in some scientific discipline"


course: Introduction to Data Science | Coursera (free)




ML: Azure Machine Learning (!)

Cloud Cover 151: Azure Machine Learning with Parmita Mehta | Microsoft Azure Cloud Cover Show | Channel 9:
"... an overview of the new Azure Cloud Machine Learning Service...
(demo) uses Cloud ML to predict family income level based off of census data. This is tested using modules pre-built by MS Research, Xbox, and Bing! After building and testing out an experiment, Parmita shows how easy it is to push the experiment to production as a web service which can be used to run individual tests or batches."
practicing "Data Science" @ Azure

Overview of Azure ML | Windows Azure | Channel 9
This provides an overview of the Azure Machine Learning Service. A browser based workbench for the data science workflow, which includes authoring, evaluating and publishing predictive models.
Predictive Modelling with Azure ML studio | Windows Azure | Channel 9
Azure Machine Learning features a pallets of modules to build a predictive model, including state of the art ML algorithms such as Scalable boosted decision trees, Bayesian Recommendation systems, Deep Neural Networks and Decision Jungles developed at Microsoft Research.

This video walks through steps to building, scoring and evaluating a predictive model in Azure Machine Learning.

Windows 7 Support Ends January 2015, 8.1 August 2014

Microsoft Windows 7 Mainstream Support to End Starting January 2015:

"Microsoft is set to pull the plug on mainstream support for Windows 7, the operating system that continues to run on more than 50% of the world's computers.

Windows 7 users across the globe will be pointed towards Microsoft's extended-support scheme from January 2015, where security fixes will be provided free of cost by the company, but hotfix updates will need to be paid for."




Microsoft Focussing Intensively on Windows 9: Announces 'Business' 'End of Support' for Windows 8.1

According to a ZDNet report, business users will need to switch from using Windows 8.1 OS, to using Windows 8.1 update 1, by 12 August 2014.

So, to get "updates", you must first get "update 1." :) Brilliant marketing...  

Windows updates are becoming a real challenge even for regular users, not to mention admins. 
Is it time for Chrome-like auto updates, that are small and fast?

Docker @ Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Amazon AWS

Simplified Setup and Use of Docker on Microsoft Azure | MS OpenTech:

"streamlined some of the steps required to create and manage Docker hosts in a (Azure) cloud environment"Docker containeraization



Google Cloud Platform Blog: An update on container support on Google Cloud Platform

"Everything at Google, from Search to Gmail, is packaged and run in a Linux container. Each week we launch more than 2 billion container instances across our global data centers, and the power of containers has enabled both more reliable services and higher, more-efficient scalability. Now we’re taking another step toward making those capabilities available to developers everywhere."

AWS Elastic Beanstalk adds Docker support

"Elastic Beanstalk provides a simple way for you to deploy and manage Docker containers on AWS"




db: Readings in Databases @ GitHub

rxin/db-readings · GitHub:

"A list of papers essential to understanding databases and building new data systems. The list is curated and maintained by Reynold Xin"