So viele Bücher, so wenig Zeit

Seuf.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Your Data Science Career by Hugh Williams

https://medium.com/@hugh_data_science/where-is-my-data-science-career-headed-d465c07688ad

I worked with Hugh at MICROSOFT and at eBay and enjoy his insights.  In his latest blog article he has some good career advice that highlights our common blind spots and fallacies with simple, prescriptive methods to avoid them.

The 8-minute reading time is well worth your investment.  Hugh covers three areas:

Here is a tantalizing excerpt:

Read the whole thing.

https://medium.com/@hugh_data_science/where-is-my-data-science-career-headed-d465c07688ad

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Privacy protection has already failed

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10933-3

GDPR has failed.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Call to Arms by Jay Allan

I had already loaded the sequel in my phone so I listened to the second book in the "Blood on the Stars" series.  Same as book 1, 2/5 stars, not worth it.

Duel in the Dark by Jay Allan

Crappy (terrible) science but fun military drama of carrier battles in the stars, 2/5 stars.

The Polish Maelstrom by Eric Flint

The history in this (second book of a series depicting) an alternative history of Bohemia and Poland in 1637 is really well-researched and very interesting.  The characters and fantasy universe are poorly conceived but the sensibilities and "slice of life" of the place and time are engrossing.  The plot line and story are meh.  But I knew nothing of that place and time so it was fascinating 3/5 stars.

Reality is infrequently what it seems

https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/tliexqdu

Participatory civics, the rise of conspiracy theories, and the future of our understanding: 

https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/tliexqdu

Stephenson's latest book, Fall, predicts the future of this phenomenon.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Scotland July 2 - 16

We completed our whirlwind tour of Scotland today, flying from Glasgow through Heathrow to Zürich.  My Laptop died before we left so I have few notes or updates to photos.

itinerary:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vSA0OmTPgYRm8XThTGrQoPtKPHJA7r_870umpj1hBwE

Photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zmDTTzMoR3LAcFE98

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Slide Presentations are harmful

The large majority of business hours in my life is taken up in meetings, and almost all of the meetings are "Death by PowerPoint." A tiny minority of the slide decks are "stand alone" illustrated storybooks that need no presenter and could enable better communication for status updates.

Today I chanced upon this blog entry that illustrates a more-efficient and effective way to communicate status as well as the tangible and measurable benefits that result:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10L3JIk8_p7Vln_176LXta5xEPOq_SPsoWrv4tR0oaD0

I have seen some grass roots efforts to institute this practice for a few meetings in the past but the idea has never caught on because of decades-long institutional corporate culture and a control-oriented tops-down demand for death-by-PowerPoint spoon feeding of status.

Change is always hard but this practice seems worth the pain.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Who we are and how we got here by David Reich

Very good book with fantastic new science.  5/5 stars.