College Football Playoffs 2015

It's that time again. Four teams made are in and a lot of folks are disappointed.  As a follow up to my CollegeFootball Playoffs viz from last year, I've rebuilt the with new parameters and included all 25 ranked teams.  Additionally I've added a new tab allowing users to find correlation or dependencies with different measures.

Check it out.

Fear and Loathing at a Data Conference (Part III)

Wednesday morning.  My lawyer dragged me down to the conference center despite my protests.  The keynote of which there would be two that day did not disappoint.  They called this man Daniel Pink and he was supposed to be a motivational speaker.  Anthony Robbins pops into my mind.  I’m not a usual subscriber to motivational talks but this Pink character was about to change my mind.

Mr. Pink, not a Reservoir Dog, used monkeys hucking cucumbers at lab technicians to explain how certain companies are using incorrect motivational techniques to inspire creativity.  His points were salient, his presentation was inspiring and, dare I say, motivational.

Feeling fully motivated, there were rumors that some Brit was to present more than three hundred slides on visualization and color (not colour).  The session was cheekily called 50 shades of data and presented by Matt Francis the Tableau Podcaster.  The rumor was true, he blazed through three hundred (or more, I couldn’t keep track) slides in under an hour.  Great examples of color in visualization and a couple new interesting ways to highlight data with color.  Looking forward to see what Matt has in store for next year.

Artilyzing.  It’s not in the dictionary, yet, but Bethany Lyons intends to put it there.  This Tableau employee knows her product.  Using what I can only assume was sorcery, Bethany flew through Table Calcs that would make any junior analysts’ eyes bleed only to prove them unnecessary by selecting a different type of visualization that better showcased that data.  Her mastery of the tool was quite amazing and I again thought to myself that this, too, might be the Jedi I am looking for.

Wednesday nights Keynote was none other than Neil deGrasse Tyson.  I couldn’t help my mind wandering back to the last time a Tyson performed at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, it was in the 90’s and someone lost an ear.  Could this Tyson out perform the last?  It would take some dark magic, and that is exactly what Neil Tyson brought.  That and booze, I was starting to see a theme.

After grabbing a drink my lawyer and I settled in to watch this astrophysicist debate movies for their inaccurate representation of science.  Fascinating, hilarious, insightful, and another more or less popular song remixed to compete with what was already playing on repeat in my head (It’s All About The Data vs. Watch Me Viz).  To quickly paraphrase Dr. Tyson: if historical inaccuracies cause issues with, say, clothing in films then why are scientific inaccuracies swept under the rug?

Gave some money back to the casino.  Was the green glow getting brighter each night?

Thursday morning, time to continue this data filled adventure.  Dr. Hannah Fry, a mathematician, walked her captive audience through her reservations about data.  An interesting perspective considering this was a data conference. We have our own damned data hashtag.  Dr. Tyson less than twelve hours ago told us it was “All About the Data.” WE ARE DATA!  Before the revolt of these data geeks, her conclusion is there is a place for data but it can be distorted and we should keep the possible subjectivity in mind.  Pitchforks were put away, torches extinguished.

Gladiators.  Three brave analysts stuffed into chef attire and put up on the same stage each of our key notes had shared under bright and presumably hot lights.  Warriors.  Twenty minutes to build a stunning visualization.  This was of course the Iron Viz Championship.  Each of these competitors knowingly entered and won a seed competition and now were to face off in front of this blood thirsty crowd, winner take all.  Brave.  Shine Pulikathara, Matt Chambers, and Skyler Johnson all built amazing visualizations and ultimately Shine was the victor with an absolutely stunning dashboard.  And no one lost an ear.

Tableau Conference 2016 is to be in Austin, luckily in November so the heat might not break into triple digits.  My blood is too thick for that climate in the dead of summer..

Sir Ken Robinson closed out the conference.  He reminded me of Alfred of the Christian Bale Batman movies.  Ideas just sound better with a queen's english accent.  Sir Robinson was able to provide that last bump of enlightenment in ideas of fostering creativity in schools, something I believe everyone can agree on.

And with that Tableau Conference 2015 was over.  Unlike this blog post, the conference flew by.  I met some old friends and made some new ones.  I didn’t lose the house to the casino despite not landing a single seven through my entire stay. And most important, I was inspired.  I’m inspired to bring my newly found knowledge back to work, I’m excited to experiment with javascript.  I’m excited to spread the gospel of data and never stop learning.

Fear and Loathing at a Data Conference (Part II)

Tuesday morning was the pinnacle of, “but wait, there’s more,” for this data thirsty crowd.  

The Tableau developers took the stage to unveil all the new features they had been, well, developing.  New features like union for csv and Excel sheets along with the ability to join disparate data sources had the audience excited.  The addition of search highlights and improved map data gave the audience an apparent wide eyed excitement only seen in a child's eyes on her birthday.  But wait, there’s more.  Advanced analytical capabilities will identify outliers automatically in a data set!  There were honestly so many new exciting features I’ve passed over several because I can’t remember them all!  Tableau 10 can’t come soon enough.

But wait, there’s more!  A demonstrated iPad application for data analytics called Vizable.  Bringing analytics to the tablet is groundbreaking, I’d looked before and never seen anything like this. Truly Tableau is changing the way we do data, remind me to buy more stock.

But wait there’s more!  It’s free!

But wai.. you get it.  The iPad app is available today, right at this very second, in the app store.  This had been a secret product launch, Steve Jobs eat your heart out.  I don’t remember any turtlenecks though.  I was waiting for it and then it happened: the thud of jaws hitting the floor simultaneously.  I think I saw a couple seizures from the excitement.  

Reeling from excitement, the conference goers dispersed to various lectures and breakout sessions.

An unfortunate aspect of the conference is the conflicting sessions.  With something like ten per timeslot an analyst has a difficult time selecting sessions.  After conferring with my lawyer and handy DATA15 app, our game plan was set.

One favorite session from the first day included a play featuring two Tableau software employees in a ruse.  Charles and Dustin act out an all too familiar situation in which a Excel guru is introduced to Tableau.  This hilarious session is worth the time, providing light hearted and unexpected entertainment along with insight to help others embrace the amazing tool.

After composing myself from the chuckle fest.  I went to see what Anya Ahern, Allen Walker, and Charles Schafer had been tweeting about for the last few months, the creation of a “Minority Report” user experience.  I had to see what the fuss was all about so I would finally be able to get a good night's rest.  Folks were definitely geeking out on and off stage about what was about to be shown as I waited in anticipation ready to be let in on the secret.

The presentation began with the integration of javascript and Tableau, which was quite neat.  I scribbled a few ideas down to take back to my day job.  The presentation advanced to “Skyfall” like maps (built in Mapbox) for law enforcement and fire departments with live police scanner audio.  

This was very cool, but then it got weird.  Theses wizards started using their hands and voice to control data visualizations.  Perhaps these were the Jedi’s I was looking for.  After a facial recognition demonstration and a bit of showing off with dragging and dropping visualizations there was something I really didn’t expect.

These voodoo practitioners had created an operating system using Tableau and were using machine learning to predict crimes in San Francisco!  Though the predictions have yet to be confirmed, this group had taken the concept to an incredible level.  I’d like to see this as a keynote next year in Austin, incredible.

“Data Night Out,” as it was called, was not memorable... for some reason.

Fear and Loathing at a Data Conference (Part I)

Fear and Loathing at a Data Conference (Part I)

We were somewhere around Tableau Conference on the edge of the desert when the data began to take hold.  I remember saying something like “I feel a bit light headed.  Maybe you should drive,” to the cab driver.  I had arrived at McCarran International moments prior.  In the time from the flying metal tube to my yellow chariot I stopped only twice. Once to take a photo of the Las Vegas sign as proof of my location and second the restroom for obvious reasons.  There had been somewhere between 8 and 10 previous data meetups depending on who you asked, this was my first.  Tableau, built the best data analytics tool and in doing so created a lifestyle, a community, or a cult?

My chauffeur was quick in delivering me to the largest hotel in Las Vegas and site of Tableau Conference 2015.

After queuing for a moment I had a thin piece of plastic which would grant entry to my home for the next five nights.  Upon arrival I swiftly stowed my stuff and it was time for important business.  I made my way, of course, to the sports book.  As a devout The National Football League fan, I needed to see a sports book up close on a Football Sunday.  After what I can only guess was five miles my eyes glazed over as I saw an entire wall papered with football.  The crowd roared with every exciting moment on each of the screens.  How were these people paying attention to all five games at the same time?  Am I missing something or were they missing something?

Excitement and exhilaration from my winnings eclipsed the fact it was now time to receive my conference pass and complimentary lanyard.  Walking another eight or so miles past what seemed to be one billion slot machines and tables, I gathered my pass compete with tracking RFID and a few pieces of what these people call flair. Undoubtedly in tribute to Office Space, a movie that I’d been amused with more so these days since joining a technology environment.

That night I discovered a fun surprise via the windows in my room.  Wonderful lights that provide the brilliant green glow to the MGM Grand also provide and equally brilliant green glow to the rooms behind that glass.  A person scared of the dark or a goblin would appreciate the green hue of this cave.

 

The next day, Monday, had a simple itinerary of Jedi Training.  Through an eight hour session, I would learn new and strange ways to bend the Force at will to make interesting and helpful data visualizations.  The training had overflowed into two additional rooms, it would seem the world was to be filled with Jedi masters.

After bidding farewell to my Jedi instructor, who remarkably looked nothing like Yoda, I headed back the way I’d come, another four miles to meet my lawyer who had just arrived.  We embarked on another eight mile trek to the welcome reception... and expo.

A wave of data analysts had been barreling over the desert hills speaking their own language.  Arriving from all corners of the globe and descending on one conference center.

And this company, Tableau, certainly knows how to welcome them.  The convention center was filled wall to wall with data enthusiasts and/or salivating monsters looking for something called swag.  There were a variety of activities and attractions to keep these people occupied.  Voting stations, donating areas, bicycle phone chargers, a  photo booth, a delicious spread of interesting foods, and of course what conference would be complete without booze.  Yes, they were feeding these geeks a social lubricant for obvious or not so obvious reasons.  The company even brewed a beer specifically for the conference complete with label that said the same.  Impressive and the beer wasn't bad either.

My lawyer and I made our way outside where the data had been turned up to eleven.  Floating balls of illumination, decorative ‘DATA’ themed exhibits, yard games, more food, and of course more booze.  Live DJ’s sprinkled throughout the event provide not quite techno music to encourage creativity, or something.  Off to the side was the Expo Hall, I had a feeling we would be getting into that nasty place soon.  There is nothing more depraved than technology vendors trying to sell their products to drunk data analysts.

The Expo Hall was covered in the same blue green colors as the rest of the conference.  One might wonder if the MGM was selected because its colors are very similar to that of the company's colors.  But one might also think they were reading too much into it.

My lawyer and I came up with an ingenious plan to harvest the “swag” these swill merchants were trading in exchange for prospecting sales leads.  Halfway through our bountiful harvest of t shirts and “flair” there was a loud almost deafening noise.  It can’t be good, not sure if I said that out loud.  “It” turned out to be a flash mob, a cute idea but ultimately destructive.  The flash mob not only coordinated an attack on unsuspecting conference goers but also delivered a remixed version of a more or less popular song which would undoubtedly be stuck in everyone's head for the remainder of the conference and beyond.  Yes, as I recount the events of the week the “Watch me Viz,” song still echos in my head.

Stuffed full of “swag” my lawyer and I headed back to the green room.  I would later find out the green glow stops at exactly three in the morning.


To be continued...

Las Vegas!!! #DATA15

In preparation for #DATA15 I took a look at some Las Vegas data.  The visualization is designed to replicate a drive down the neon filled streets of the Las Vegas strip. In other words the painful color choices were done with purpose.

300 Acts Associated with N.W.A

This is my submission for the Tableau Music Viz Contest. 


Since this is the opening week for the new N.W.A movie "Straight Outta Compton" I wanted to explore the reach the group has had over the years.  Using Wikipedia I pulled the "Associated acts" for the six performers of N.W.A.  I continued to pull recursive associated acts until I reached 300 rows.  Next, a bit of scrubbing to get the data into a networkable format.  This is my first experimentation with paths so a lot of Tableau forum searches went into this!


Using the visualization it's quite easy to see Dr. Dre has the most connections reaching all the way to non- Hip Hop groups like Daft Punk and Fall Out Boy.  Interestingly there is a Phil Collins association with Easy-E!  I have removed searching options from this visualization so the user focuses exploring rather than checking to see if their favorite artist has an N.W.A connection.  Since this is only the first 300 I can only imagine how large the network spans.


Branden @does_data


https://public.tableau.com/views/300ActsAssociatedwithN_W_A/AssociatedActs?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&:showTabs=y

Naming your Company - Made Easy!

You're a creative group of young self starters ready to start consulting making a difference.  You have an exposed brick studio with an open air environment conducive to collaboration and innovation.  Everything is falling into place, except for that pesky job of naming the venture. With so many creative minds it's a difficult agreeing on a name.

Don't worry, I have a solution. It's this very complicated naming strategy I like to call Noun Number. Let me show you how it works. You pick a noun, first thing that comes to your head. And then you pick a number at random. The more arbitrary the better. And there you have it.  If this is too complicated here are few examples you are free to use: Paragraph Four, Station Seven, Engine 89.

This radical idea has already been discovered by several companies and now that you know the secret you will notice them every time!  Now some may call this method lazy or unoriginal but these folks have actually saved vast amounts of time using this incredibly effective method!

For Those Who Dare

Training for the Triple Bypass ride this year, I wanted to visualize what it was I'm training for.

Dashboard Analogy

Migrated from doesdata.wordpress.com

A couple months ago, my mother told me she still didn’t understand what I do for a living. It isn’t easy to explain the subtle nuances of the IT world let alone the sorcery of queries and scripts. So, I defaulted to the car dashboard analogy. Without the dashboard, it is very difficult to tell how fast the car is traveling, how fast the engine is spinning, how far the vehicle has traveled, or how much fuel is left in the tank. This is a decent analogy to explain the purpose of enterprise dashboard development. They give a quick glimpse into the health of a particular system or process. Although a fine analogy for my mother, it doesn’t really capture what we do.
Mother understood and I’m sure went about telling her friends (who probably think I’m a mechanic, now), but this analogy is flawed. The automotive dashboard does provide key metrics with valuable information answering questions like “Am I out of gas?” and “Am I going to get a speeding ticket?” but this is only point in time information. The dashboard analogy doesn’t really give insight into the vehicles performance.
For example, I can put together a data visualization that shows a count of systems in an environment, but that doesn’t represent the whole picture. Instead or in addition to, a better metric would show the change in system counts over time. Taken a step further maybe these counts are broken into segments or types with trending or forecast information relating to capacity limits.
During a recent Gartner webinar, Jeffery Brooks revealed a better analogy for enterprise dashboards. Sticking with the familiar automotive theme, since most people can relate, he explained that better enterprise or O&I dashboards resemble the dashboard on a hybrid vehicle. These dashboards measure performance instead of point in time metrics. It tells the driver how efficient the vehicle is using its resources, how many miles can be driven with current fuel and battery supply, and can alert a driver to potential hazards.
I don’t think my mother cares about the analogy choice and it serves as a great ten second pitch. But, we need to be conscious of the distinction. Great dashboards show performance and goal adherence, how well a department is using its resources ($$$), potential danger, and (most importantly in my opinion) actionable information

College Football Championship

Repost from my Wordpress.com Blog.

Football Championships

Does location make a difference in Football Championships?  Missing football season and testing out Tableau 9.0!!!