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Miscellany

Chart Supply

This past Christmas, as a kind of joke-gift, I gave “Am I Overthinking This? Over-Answering Life’s Questions in 101 Charts” to my wife. It seemed like it might be a funny reflection on our tendency, at times, to overthink things.

The book is quite charming, and the author’s back-story on how the book came to be is quite moving.

As someone who spends a substantial amount of my work day in the data weeds and regularly considers visualization optimizations, the analog nature of Michelle Rial’s illustrations was a breath of fresh air—a reminder to have fun with charts and allow them to tell stories in an approachable way.

With an eye toward charts as a creative outlet, I’ve decided to launch chart.supply, a home for me to have some fun, with charts. I may not be able to promise professional-quality art, but I do hope to be able to provide some light chuckles.

My first chart considers the market equilibrium for supply and demand of fantasy sports stories:

I don’t anticipate cross-posting between sites (at least not at the current moment). So if this strikes your fancy, make sure to subscribe at charts.supply.

Categories
Miscellany

Sláinte

The speed at which local, national, and international news is streaming to and past us recently has left me kind of in a fog. I only realized that today was St. Patrick’s Day a few hours after waking up. My wife has been a competitive Irish dancer for over 20 years. St. Patrick’s Day is a day to celebrate.

And yet, this year, it had faded into the background.

An hour or so after I realized today’s date, my next-door neighbor texted me, saying that they usually have a big gathering on St. Patrick’s Day, featuring a big meal. They already had all the fixings and were still making their dinner, but were forgoing the gathering in light of the need to maintain social distancing. He offered to share some of their feast with us, dropping it on our patio at dinner time.

This was an incredibly thoughtful and generous offer. Neighbors taking care of neighbors.

Back in 2018, my wife and I were fortunate enough to spend a week-and-a-half in Ireland, one afternoon of which included a stop at the Old Bushmills Distillery. While there, I bought this bottle of their 12-year distillery reserve. I’ve been waiting to break it open for a special occasion, but without identifying what that special occasion might be.

It just so turns out, today was that special occasion. An otherwise subdued day.

Social distancing.

Taking things one day at a time.

Neighbors helping neighbors.

When my neighbor dropped off the food, I left out a glass of whiskey. We toasted via text and shared a meal together—through the external walls, side-yards, and side-road between our individual dining areas.

At our core, we’re social creatures. We care for those around us. Let’s remember that over these probably trying weeks and months to come. And not forget it when we come out on the other side.

Thank you to my neighbor, a shining example of the good we all have to share with one another.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Wishing good health to all.

Sláinte

Categories
Miscellany

2019 Reading Recap

I can’t say that I read as much as I would have liked during 2019, but I made a concerted effort in the final third of the year to set aside a dedicated part of each day to spend reading. All told, I completed 12 books over the course of 2019 (and dabbled in a few others, some will be finished in 2020, others probably permanently set aside) — here are the titles:

This year marked my first foray into modern science-/speculative-fiction. Both Ken Liu’s short stories and Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy are incredibly rich and thought-provoking.

I also dipped back into the classics with 1984. The social/political commentary continues to be applicable today.

Skin in the Game was a bit of a plodding read, but introduced me to some interesting concepts, like the Lindy Effect. It also reinforced some ideas I’ve been mulling over regarding the perils of applying statistical measures in decisions where asymmetry in risk/reward exist.

Finally, I found Say Nothing to be a remarkably well written history of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland. My wife and I visited Belfast in 2018; I both wish I’d been able to read this book prior to visiting and found the context provided by my time there to evoke even more immersion in an already-immersive work.

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Miscellany

Howdy!

Howdy, and thanks for stopping by. I’m Dave Machado, and I plan to use this blog to publish on a range of topics, primarily data analysis, business, technology, and product thoughts.

So, why am I starting this blog?

  • I find that writing often helps me to better form and refine my thinking
  • I find writing to be a creative outlet
  • I hope others might find value in the thoughts that I plan to share here
  • I find great value in the fact that people publicly share their solutions to novel problems, and I’d like to contribute similarly for others
  • Finally, I joined Automattic because I believe deeply in the importance of an inclusive and positive open web, and it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and start contributing more into the open web

Here’s to many words and posts to come!

#data #business #technology #product #analytics