Hi Py!

Hello World!

Today marks my transition from R to Python.

I have been trying to master R for almost a year and though I started making progress I felt that there was something intrinsically wrong with the language. Having used R/ggplot helped me get insights on a number of data sets that I was working on. The visualization capabilities seemed promising.

The cons however:
      - Formatting is "dirty" - you have to exert extra effort in organizing blocks of codes
      - Various ways to write the same code - slows down mastery
      - Less effective in automating data processing and updates

Python on the other hand was love at first sight. About time somebody removed the curly braces and semicolons in the code. The coding structure is well thought out and logical.

Here's to more nights with the Py!

Trick and Truth

I have a toddler niece who is already learning how to talk. She is at the stage where when friends of her parents would ask what her name is she would start reciting her full name.

One holiday, my siblings from different parts of the country came to visit our parents. After dinner, everyone gathered in the living room where the children showcased their question and answer skills. There was the usual barrage of “What is your name?” or “What sound does a cat make?” and the children would dutifully answer the questions.

At one point my father asked my niece, “How old are you?”. My niece giggled for a while, paused and then stuck up two of her fingers while shouting “Three!”. Everyone in the room burst out laughing and applauded.

The audience was entertained. The question wasn’t answered. What was the correct number, we didn’t know. It was a trick. Well played, little girl.  

In several years that I worked as a data analyst and presenter I learned that there are tricks to manipulate data to mask a substandard result, disguise a problematic fact or tell a totally different story. This is not about falsification of data but about conscious misinterpretation – rearranging the sequence of discussion, not explaining context, or leaving out details. The numbers do not lie but the presenter may not tell the whole truth.

On hindsight, the same skills needed for misinterpretation can be used to guide the audience through the presenter’s complex analysis. Give out information in bite sizes. Sequence it starting from the simplest. Use tools to emphasize and visualize. Leave out details – yes if unnecessary. Interpretation is subjective so interpret straight and upfront.  Do not leave room for confusion. Allow however room for interaction and constructive examination.  

In defense of my niece, she was in fact two and a half years old at the time. It was both trick and truth.

Number Wall Game

My brother and I created the Number Wall Game where anyone can keep their mind sharp by practicing arithmetic operations. 

The game has 20 levels with increasing difficulty starting with single digit addition to double digit subtraction. 

We finished the game in six days using a shared laptop and an android phone for testing. Programming was straightforward using LibGDX. What took time was the simulation of the game and adjustment of speed for different levels.

It's still a work in progress but we made it available for download. It's free. Try it here!

Comedians and Words

Words by themselves are not funny at all.

Comedians address the audience as “man” more often than “people” or “women”. While they have a diverse range of topic, the white and black comparison is common. Swear words that pop out of the word cloud are used to give emphasis.

Source: Transcripts from the stand up performances of Louis C.K., Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock and John Mulaney

Tools: R, R tm, R wordcloud

Traffic Congestion in the Philippines' National Capital Region

Source: data.gov.ph - Registered Motor Vehicles by Classification and Region

Transportation in the National Capital Region of the Philippines is a trivial issue that triggers anger and frustration in motorists and commuters. Travelling between 2-4 hours from the outskirts of NCR to the business districts of Metro Manila is not unheard of. It is a daily topic in the news and the social media that bring up endless debates on solutions that don't get implemented.

To get to work, I travel daily by car from Mandaluyong to Makati a distance of 5km. It takes me 40 minutes of travel in morning and 1 hour on my return trip in the afternoon. I tried different ways to get home. Here are the results travelling between 5:30pm to 7:00pm
       Bus         - 1 hour, 10 minutes
       Car         - 1 hour
       Walking - 55 minutes
       Running - 40 minutes
       Cycling  - 30 minutes

It is frustrating knowing that I can get home faster with my legs than with a car. To what the suspect is, I can only point out the following:
      - 91% of the motor vehicles in NCR are private vehicles (Sedan, SUV or UV).
      - The number of private vehicles increased by 27% per year or a total of 84,925 increase from 2010 to 2013.
      - Public buses comprise 1% of the motor vehicles and only grew by 2% per year or a total of 77 increase from 2010 to 2013.
      - Utility Vans that have a smaller capacity increased much faster in volume than public buses.

Improvements in transportation can be simplified to either wider roads or less vehicles. We can only squeeze out so much to widen our roads. As  for vehicles, I only know of the number coding scheme as an implemented program to lessen traffic congestion. What stops the privileged from owning a non-coding vehicle is an unaddressed issue. If anything, this may even add to the number of vehicles on the roads on non-coding days.

While Metro Manila railroad systems are currently in question for safety and efficiency, we can rely on increased bus transportation or carpool system to lessen the number of vehicles on the road. The question however is if solo motorists who honk to each other every five minutes to relieve the tension are willing to cooperate.

I am One in Four Million

Hello World!

I am Esther Tecson, a dataist struggling to get one of the 4.4 million jobs projected to be in demand supporting Big Data.

In this blog, I will be sharing my projects related to data analysis.

As of March 28, 2015 here's my life in numbers:

Age: 26 years and 160 days old
Work Experience: ICT Data Analyst, 2010 - 2015
Education: University of the Philippines, BS Industrial Engineering, GPA: 1.63
Current Location: +63
Skills in 1-10: Excel - 10, SQL - 9, PHP - 7, R - 4
Hobbies: Counting footsteps, breaking MASL record (currently 2,956)

I'll be updating as I go along.

tl;dr Welcome to Data Analyst Esther Tecson's Portfolio